PJB-2018-442
PROFILE STUDY OF SOIL MACRO NUTRIENTS AND DIAGNOSTIC LEAF CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLE (MALUS DOMESTICA) IN HIGH DENSITY APPLE GROWING REGION OF NORTH KASHMIR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR , INDIA
Masrat Maqbool
Abstract
Scientific study of soil profile gives information on the spatial variability of macro nutrient status on different locations with respect to altitudinal and depth .The aims to study soil macro nutrients of twelve representative sites of apple growing region, and also to evaluate the nutrient contents of apple leaves of the same sites from three districts of North Kashmir, India. Among twelve profiles one profile fall under high altitude (>1800 ms amsl), two profiles under Mid altitude (1600-1800 ms amsl) and rest nine profiles under Low altitude (<1600ms amsl) . Most of profiles has four horizons means four depth broadly divided into surface (upper two horizons) and sub surface (lower two horizons ) soils. Results indicated that the higher value of Nitrogen , Phosphorus, Potassium and Sulphur was found in higher altitude fallowed by mid and low altitude while as calcium and magnesium found higher in mid altitudes fallowed by low and high altitudes. Nutrients also show the significant variation with depth . N, P, K and S shows decreasing trend with depth with higher values in surface soils than sub surface soils while as calcium magnesium showed higher values in sub surface soils than surface and also shows the irregular trend with increase in depth due to leaching and deposition at different soil horizons. The diagnosis of apples leaves indicated that none of the samples was deficient in N with 95% CI (2.13-2.31% in surface and 2.14-2.28 % in sub surface) , P with 95% CI (0.18-0.19 % in surface and 0.14-0.21% in sub surface ), K with 95% CI (1.61-1.73 % in surface and 1.64-1.79% in sub surface ), Ca with 95% CI (1.63-1.74 % in surface and1.66-1.75% in sub surface ) and S with 95% CI (0.20-0.23 % in surface and 0.21-0.23 % in sub surface ) while as overall magnesium found marginal in both surface (0.26-0.30%) and sub surface soils (0.27-0.31%) . Correlation studies showed the significant positive (p< 0.05) correlation between soil nitrogen , potassium and sulphur with leaf N, K and S both in surface and sub surface soils while as Ca and Mg only in surface soils. All soils macronutrients show positive significant correlation with yield except K and S showing positive non significant relation. while as positive significant correlation with yield shown by leaf N, K and sulphur. In order to overcome the deficiency of some of the nutrients observed both in soil and plant samples, proper fertilization especially the use of organic manures is highly recommended to maintain the fertility status of the soil and also to protect the soil against the threat of degradation. However, this study demands more attention for advanced spatio-temporal nutrient management approaches along the altitudinal gradients for sustainable production.
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