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Characteristics and Soil Fertility Status of Southern Coastal Plains in Kerala

Indian Agricultural Research Journals

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Title Characteristics and Soil Fertility Status of Southern Coastal Plains in Kerala
 
Creator ATHULYA, B M
PRIYA, GOWRI
RANI, B
APARNA, B
NISHAN, M A
 
Subject Coastal sandy soils
Agro-Ecological unit 1
Soil physical properties
Soil chemical properties
Soil biological activity
 
Description Understanding the physicochemical and biological parameters of coastal soils is essential for developing climate-resilient and sustainable resource management strategies. A study was conducted to assess the characteristics of the coastal sandy soils in Thiruvananthapuram district (Agro-ecological unit 1- Southern Coastal Plains), Kerala. Fifty geo-referenced surface soil samples along with surface core samples were collected during March 2022 from the Thiruvananthapuram district which falls under the southern coastal plains covering an area of 19,344 ha. The analytical results for soil physical properties showed that the bulk density was in the range of 1.37 - 1.86 Mg m-³ while particle density was 2.22 - 2.89 Mg m-³, with 22.7 - 56.0% water holding capacity, and the soils came under sand and loamy sand textural classes. The soil chemical properties were found to be in the range of 5.11 - 7.19 for pH and 0.03 - 0.23 dS m-1 for electrical conductivity.  Organic carbon was found to be in the range of 0.07 - 1.01%, nitrogen 100 - 308 kg ha-1, phosphorus 7.05 - 59.94 kg ha-1 and potassium 100 - 361 kg ha-1.  Secondary minerals were found to be present in the range: calcium 80 - 360 mg kg-1, magnesium 47 - 152 mg kg-1 and sulphur 4.5 - 20.5 mg kg-1. Boron was found to be in the range of 0.11 - 0.82 mg kg-1. Soil biological activity in these coastal sandy soils was poor with dehydrogenase activity in the range of 5.57 - 20.96 µg TPF hydrolysed g-1 soil 24 h-1. Hence, these soils require site-specific nutrient management strategies including organic manure application to fully utilize their potential for sustainable agriculture.
 
Publisher Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research
 
Date 2024-01-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier https://epubs.icar.org.in/index.php/JISCAR/article/view/135031
10.54894/JISCAR.41.2.2023.135031
 
Source Journal of the Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research; Vol. 41 No. 2 (2023); 52-60
2584-0320
0972-1584
 
Language eng
 
Relation https://epubs.icar.org.in/index.php/JISCAR/article/view/135031/53629
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research (ISCAR)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0