Status of Sulphur and Boron in Soils of North Gujarat Region of India

The soils of North Gujarat region'swere assessed for its Sulphur and Boron status due to its visible deficiency in plants. Study was conducted in three districts viz., Sabarkantha, Mehsana and Patan from which 60, 110 and 52 villages were selected and soils samples were collected with geo-tagging. A total of 1332 surface soil samples (Sabarkantha 360, Mehsana 660 and Patan 312) were collected from these respective districts. Analysis of these soil samples showed a wide variation in soil pH (6.04-9.72) from slightly acidic to alkaline. Organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 1.0 to 7.1 g kg-1, about 90, 65 and 74% of soil samples were found to be under the low OC in Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan districts, respectively. Available S content ranged from 1.7 to 68.5 mg kg-1 with a mean value of 15.6, 14.7 and 14.9 mg kg-1 in Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan districts, respectively. S deficiency in soils of all three districts was 18.1, 25.5 and 16.9 per cent, which appeared in medium-fertility class level as per Nutrient Index Value (NIV). The high magnitude of S deficiency was noticed in soils of Idar taluka (43.9 %) followed by Khedbrahma taluka (40.9%) of Sabarkantha district, showing medium-fertility class. Further, these samples were also found deficient in hot water-soluble boron (HWS-B) and it ranged from 0.06 to 3.12 mg kg-1 with a mean value of 0.44, 0.45 and 0.44 mg kg-1 in districts of Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan, respectively. The NIV indicated B fertility level of low to high. Per cent deficiency of B recorded about 29.4, 17.9 and 19.2 per cent in all three districts. A large scale of B deficiency was noticed in Satlasna taluka (52.4 %) of Mehsana district, which showed low fertility class.