Physiochemical Analysis and Nutrient Assessment of Farmland Soil samples in the village of Wardha District, Maharashtra, India

 

P. B. Thakare

Department of Chemistry, Arts, Commerce and Science College, Arvi Dist.Wardha - 442201 (M.S.) India.

 

ABSTRACT:

The soil is the most important constituent of our farming. For the proper implementation of management practices an understanding of physicochemical parameters of the soil is essential which affect the soil productivity. In the present study, four soil samples were collected from four sites of a farmland in Wadhona village, Arvi tehsil of Wardha district (Maharashtra state) for analysis. The micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) and physicochemical parameters of the soil like Bulk density, water holding capacity, pH, Electric conductivity (EC), Organic carbon, N, P, K, Ca, Mg were analysed. There was a minor variation in the nutrients and parameters of the soil samples. The results revealed that, suitable level of organic manure, phosphate fertilizers, and gypsum can be used to increase the crop yield. However, excess use of chemical fertilizers may decline crop productivity. This information helps the farmer to manage the problems related to the soil nutrients, micronutrients and the amount of fertilizers to be added to increase the crop yield.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

One of the most important resources of the nature is soil. Soil is comprised of minerals, soil organic matter (SOM), water and air. The success of soil management to maintain the soil quality depends on finding how the soils respond to the agricultural practices. There fore the physicochemical study of parameters of soil is found to be important to the chemists for plant growth and soil management^1,2. Several investigators^3,4 have been reported the status of available micronutrients present in the soil and their relationship with various physical and chemical properties. T.N. Nath⁵ investigated the micronutrient levels in roadside tea cultivated soil in the Dibrugarh district of Assam. 

 

The results showed that as the roadside distance increases from the road edge the metal concentration decreases in a constant pattern. The levels of micronutrients in roadside tea cultivated soil were higher as compared to reference soil levels. Ganorkar et al⁶ studied the nutrient assessment and physicochemical analysis of soil in Amravati district and recommended the use of compost manure, cow manure, gypsum etc. for better crop yield. S. Kumar⁷ carried out assessment of soil quality from Tatibandh area of Raipur district, Chhattisgar. The preliminary attempt⁸ was made to study the nature of soil in different agricultural areas in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu, India to understand the nutrient profile of the district and to prescribe the nutrients levels of the crops. Saroj Mahajan and Dilip Billore⁹ studied the physicochemical properties of soil of Nagehoon pond like pH, specific conductivity, alkalinity, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, sulphate, phosphate, sodium and potassium. The results showed that some parameters were above the permissible limit and some were below the permissible limit which affects the quality and productivity of soil. M. Krishnaveni¹⁰ conducted nutrient analysis of soil collected from Panuchakuli village in Kanyakumari district and concluded that the soil contains sufficient organic carbon, nutrients, microbes essential for growth of the plant. Parallel work was carried out for the assessment¹¹ of nutrients of the soil samples collected near roadsides of Thoppur hills at three different locations. Agricultural soil contamination due to heavy metals¹² has been also reported.

 

The yield and quality of soil depends upon the fertilizers and presence of nutrients and micronutrients present in the soil. The condition of soil is of great importance.¹³ Physicochemical characterization of farmland soil of nearby villages of Hingna taluka, Nagpur district (Maharashtra) observed that the parameters were fluctuating i.e. from very low to very high for farm to farm of nearby villages. The physicochemical status of the soil is being changed due to excessive use of fertilizers¹⁴. By the use of chemical fertilizers, soil fertility decrease faster than poultry and farmed manure¹⁵. Also, the increasing use of chemical fertilizers to the soil leads to its side effects to the soil, plants, animals and human being¹⁶. The crop quality, productivity and environmental quality is dependent on the physicochemical properties of soil hence it is very important to know the physicochemical properties of soil.

 

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Study Area:

Wardha district lies in between north latitude of 20°18’ to 20°21’ east longitude of 78°4’ to 79°15’. The average rainfall in Wardha district is 1241.6mm out of which rainfall during the period from June to September amounts to about 87%: July being the rainiest month.

 

Wadhona is a small village in the Arvi tehsil of Wardha district (Maharashtra state, India). This area is known for cotton and soyabean.

 

Collection of samples:

Soil samples were collected randomly from 10-30cm soil depth from four different sites of a farmland. For each sampling sites, five subsamples from four corners and one center of a grid by quartering method were used to prepare one composite sample. Thus, the four representative soil samples were collected from each site following the standard procedure^{17, 18} and stored in four different clean polythene bags labeled as BS₁, BS₂, BS₃ and BS₄. In laboratory, these samples were analyzed for different physical and chemical properties following standard methods. All chemicals used were of AR grade.

 

Physicochemical analysis:

Each soil sample was air dried, crushed and passed through a 2 mm sieve then mixed thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Following methods were used to estimate various parameters.

 

 

1. Water holding capacity (WHC)¹⁹: Whatmann filter paper no. 44 was kept in the circular brass box, weight was taken (W₁) dry soil of 0.5mm was transferred until the box was nearly filled, placed in petriplate, added water upto the depth of 1 cm and kept overnight. After 12-16 hr box was removed, wiped and weighed, dried in an oven for about 24 hrs at 105 C allowed to cool in a desiccators and again weighed.

 

W₁ = Weight of brass box + filter paper

W₂ = Weight of brass box + saturated soil

W₃= Weight of brass box + oven dry soil

W₄ = Amount of water retained by filter paper

 

 

2. Bulk density (BD) by determined by weighing method

 

3. pH: Determined using 1:2.5 soil water suspension using standardized pH meter Equip Tropics, Model EQ 611.

 

4. EC (Digital conductivity meter Model 611): 20 g (2mm) soil in 50 ml distilled water to get 1:2.5 ratio. The mixture was shaken for ½ hr then soil settled down the Conductivity cell was rinsed with distilled water and then dipped into the supernatant liquid, and the reading was noted from the display.

 

5. Organic carbon (Walkey Black method): To 0.5 g of soil sample, 10ml of 1N K₂Cr₂O₇ and 20 ml conc. H₂SO₄ was added in the flask and mixed gently by swirling. This was allowed to stand for 30 minutes. 200 ml distilled water, 10ml H₃PO₄ and 1 ml diphenyl amine indicator were added to the flask, a deep violet color appeared. Titration was carried out with N/2 Ferrous ammonium sulphate solution till the violet color changed to purple and finally to green. Blank determination was carried out without soil and the results were calculated.

 

6. Phosphorous (Olson method): 10gm soil was taken in 100ml conical flask, pinch of Darco-G60 and 50 ml 0.5M, NaHCO₃ added and shaked for ½ hr on a shaker and then filtered through Whatman filter paper No. 1. Then 5ml ammonium molybdate was added and 400ml. 10N HCl was added. CO₂ was evolved, then 1ml dilute SnCl₂ was added to make volume 25ml, the intensity was measured spectrophotometrically (ELICO, SL 177).

 

7. Available Na and K (Flame photometry method): using neutral 1N ammonium acetate solution and plotting a standard calibration curve.

 

8. Calcium and magnesium was determined by EDTA:

(Versenate method): 5 g (1mm) soil was taken and 20ml 23 % NaNO₃ was added. Mixture shaken for 30 min., 2 ml of filtrate was taken in two different 100ml beakers each, 20ml distilled water and a pinch of sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate was added to each beaker, for Ca + Mg, in one of the above beaker 5 ml buffer solution and 4-6 drops of EBT indicator were added and then this solution was titrated against std 0.02N EDTA solution till the red color changes to blue. In another beaker for Ca, 2 ml, 10% KOH solution and murexide indicator was added. This solution was then titrated against EDTA solution till the pink color changes to violet. The difference in the above two titer values corresponds to Mg present in the soil. Blank readings were taken (without soil) by the same procedure.

 

9. Available nitrogen was determined by Kjeldahl’s method.

10. Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn by DTPA method (AAS chemito 203): The method commonly used for determining the available micronutrients in soil sample is given by Lindsay and Norvell²⁰. Extracting solution was prepared using 0.005 M DTPA, 0.01 M CaCl₂.2H₂O and 0.1 M TEA (Triethanolamine), stock solutions of Copper Sulphate, zinc sulphate, ferrous sulphate and manganese suphate were prepared. Sample solution was prepared using 20 g air dried and thoroughly processed soil was taken in a 100 ml conical flask. To this 40 ml DTPA extracting solution was added. The mouth of flask was tightly closed and the flask was placed on an electric shaker for exactly two hours at 25⁰ C. The contents were then filtered through Whats man No. 42 filter paper and ensured that the filtrate is free of colloidal matter. The metal was selected on AAS and the calibration curve was prepared which was a straight line. Then the capillary tube was immersed into the sample solution, the lamp of AAS for that metal was lighted and the concentration of the metal was recorded.

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

The investigations demonstrated that all the soil samples are black gray in colour. The physicochemical analysis of soils from four sites ie BS_1, BS_2, BS₃ and BS₄ is presented in table 1.

 

1.Bulk density:

The bulk density is dependent on soil organic matter, soil texture, density of soil mineral and their packing arrangement. The higher BD 2.46 Mg m^-3 was found in BS₄ soil sample and lower BD 2.29 Mg m^-3 in BS₃ soil sample. Better BD of soil sample indicating better WHC.

 

2. Water holding capacity:

WHC is an index of number of physical properties of soil. Good WHC shows the good physical condition of soil. Thakare et al²¹ reported high WHC for black soil in Wardha district region due to high percentage of clay and the smecititic clay minerals that have large surface area to retain higher amount of water. The WHC for BS₄ is 36.91% which is the highest among four samples under study.

3. pH:

The value of pH ranges from 7.52 to 7.64 indicating that all the soil samples are alkaline. pH greatly affects solubility of minerals and another parameters. According S. Kumar et al²² the pH of cotton soils is found in the range of 7.5-8.4. The problem of salinity and alkalinity can be solved by use of manures and judicious selection and rotation as crops that can produce satisfactory yields²³.

 

4. EC:

It is used to estimate the concentration of soluble salts in the soil and to measure the salinity at any temperature. The soil with electrical conductivity less than 1dSm^-1 is normal. The EC for all the soil samples was in the normal approximate range. Sample BS₂ has highest value of EC (0.51dSm^-1). Suitable use of organic manure can be recommended to all the sites.

 

5. Oragnic C:

It is the basis of soil fertility. It improves soil fertility and soil health. OC content was recorded in the range of 0.79-0.94%. The soil sample BS₂ has highest % of Organic carbon.

 

6. Available N:

Nitrogen helps the plant for rapid growth, increasing seed and fruit production. It also improves the quality of leaf and forage crops. So it is important that the N level is to be maintained within the prescribed limits of sufficient range by proper use of nitrogen fertilizers. It is a part of all living cell which is an important part of protein, enzymes, metabolic processes involved in the transfer of energy²⁴. In these samples N varies from 593-715kg/ha which is medium to high.

 

Table 1: The physicochemical characterization of soil samples

 

7. Available Phosphorous:

It is present in the plant nuclei and acts as energy storage. P ranges from 11.36 to 12.46 kg/ha which is slightly low. Use of phosphate fertilizers, manures can be recommended in a suitable amount.

8. Available potassium:

It plays a key role in the physiological process and is vital to the plant growth from protein synthesis to maintain plant water balance²⁵. Available K in all soil samples found to be high which might be due excess use of potassium fertilizer.

 

9.Calcium and Magnessium:

Ca promotes early growth and is constituent of cell wall. It also encourages seed product, improves soil structure. Mg is a constituent of chlorophyll and increases photosynthesis in plant. Ca content in the studied samples varies from 24.6 to 30.6% while the Mg content found in the range 5.68-7.50%. According to Kavitha and Sujatha²⁶ Ca content in the soil is usually affected by drainage, soil pH and limiting practices. To improve Ca and Mg in soil proper amount of gypsum and magnesium sulphate can be added to the soil.

 

10. Micronutrients:

The present study showed that, Fe varied from 0.25 to 0.61ppm i.e. low to medium but insufficient and the soil needs to supply suitable ferrous sulphate. Mn ranges from 2.80 to 3.82 ppm and is found to be sufficient. Zn content in the studied soil samples varies from 0.80 to 0.93 ppm and is highest in BS₄ which is slightly low than the normal value that might be due to the fact that, Zn in the soil gets changed to their oxides or hydroxides under alkaline conditions. Similar results were also recorded by T.N. Nath et al²⁷ Cu is found to be in the range of 0.82 to 2.25 ppm which is sufficient and normal.

 

CONCLUSION:

The physicochemical characterization of farmland soil is important to agriculture for plants growth and soil management. The physicochemical studies of four different soil samples from four sites of the farmland in the Wadhona village of Wardha district revealed that, BD, WHC, pH, EC, OC, available NPK, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn are found in the approximate normal range with minor variations. The results showed that there was a minor variation in the nutrients and parameters of the soil samples. The results also revealed that, suitable level of organic manure, phosphate fertilizers, gypsum and inorganic fertilizers can be used to increase the crop yield. However, excess use of chemical fertilizers may decline crop productivity. This information will help the farmer to manage the problems related to the soil nutrients, micronutrients and the amount of fertilizers to be added to increase the crop yield.

 

Acknowledgement:

The author is thankful to the Principal and teaching staff of Arts, commerce and Science college, Arvi Dist. Wardha for their inspiration and co-operation. Thanks to the Non-teaching staff of the department of chemistry for providing neccessary laboratory facilities.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

 

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Received on 29.06.2020                    Modified on 19.07.2020

Accepted on 21.08.2020                   ©AJRC All right reserved