ISSN ONLINE(2319-8753)PRINT(2347-6710)

All submissions of the EM system will be redirected to Online Manuscript Submission System. Authors are requested to submit articles directly to Online Manuscript Submission System of respective journal.

Comparative Analysis of Various Factors of Irrigated and Non?Irrigated Soils of Various Villages of Bhesan District of Junagadh

Nirmal P. Patel, Prakash L. Patel, Prakash H. Patel, Anita Gharekhan
Associate Professor, Department of Physics, C. U. Shah Science College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Related article at Pubmed, Scholar Google

Visit for more related articles at International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

Abstract

Soil is one of the most vital sources for cultivation of all types of the crops on the land. The crops selection for cultivation is highly dependent on physical and chemical properties of soil as well as on surrounding environment. pH, organic carbon, electric conductance, concentration of micro and macro elements in the soil play significant role in selection of crop. Irrigation also plays an important role. So a comparative study was carried out between various properties of irrigated and non-irrigated agriculture land of bhesan village, Junagadh district in the state of Gujarat, India. From the study it was found that both type of land have sufficient concentration of all the micro and macro elements. However these concentrations were found little higher in irrigated soil as compare to non-irrigated.

Keywords

irrigated, non-irrigated, Bhesan, physical and chemical properties of soil

INTRODUCTION

Soil is thought to be the major nutrient provider for crop production. The major components required for the growth of any crop includes macroelements like carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, microelements like potassium, sulfur, boron, magnesium, zinc, chlorine and certain trace elements. Macroelements play key role in over all development and biomolecule formation where as micro and trace element serves various purposes like, cofactor for activation of certain enzymatic activities, inhibitor to prevent adverse effect on plant, they also directly or indirectly involved in growth and regular activity of plants. It is very essential to have all these elements in the soil for good growth of plants. If they are not available in the soil then they can be provided in form of synthetic chemicals as fertilizers[1]. However excess of certain elements have also shown adverse effect on plant[2]. Presence of adequate water in form of moisture also plays significant role in overall growth and development of plant. It is thought that water increases the rate of transportation of these elements[3]. So a study was planned to study the variation of various parameters which are thought to be crucial for the growth of plants between irrigated and non-irritated soil of various villages of Bhesan village of Junagadh district in the state of Gujarat, India. Parameters like pH, electric conductance, organic carbon, P, K, Zn, Fe, S, Mn, Cu, Mg and Ca was considered for present study.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Geographic Location of the Area

Geographical location of the study area is presented in fig. 1. Its geographical coordinates are 21° 33' 0" North, 70° 42' 0" East. Bhesan is a district located near Junagadh city.
image

Samples Collection

Samples were collected as per guidelines issued by Government of India for the analysis of soil[4]. Total 2877 samples from irrigated soil and 518 samples from non-irrigated soil were collected for the analysis and immediately processed.

Methods of determination of various parameters

For the various analysis of the samples guidelines issued by the Government of India was followed strictly and all the experiment were carried out at least three times[4]. Results were tabulated and statistical analysis was done to check the level of significance using SPSS 16.0.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this study, the focus was only on the major factors which may affect the growth of plant. Apart from these, there are many other parameters which also affect the growth. Table 1 shows analysis results of various soil samples collected from various village of the Bhesan district. The villages were broadly classified as irrigated and non irrigated villages. Total twelve villages were belonging to irrigated and three villages were belonging to nonirrigated villages. Average values of various analyses performed for collected samples along with the 2-tailed significance value. (Table 2) These parameters plays significant role in the development of plant. Mean value of all the analyses along with the standard deviation were shown on the table.
Based on the resultant data it is noted that both soil are slightly alkaline pH, which is one of most favoring factor the plant growth[5], [6]. Alkaline nature of soil inhibit the flow of certain metals and other components to the plants making growth rate slower. Electric conductance of both kinds of soils is found below 0.5 dS/cm, this reflects soils are free of salts. Irrigated and non-irrigated soils both contain higher concentration of carbon. This is again a growth promoting factor, whereas potassium and phosphate, were found in very high concentration. The main reason behind it is uncontrolled application of chemical fertilizers containing N, P and K. Excess quantity of these elements tends to stay in the soil in idle form for longer period of time and leading to adverse effect on soil fertility at times[7]. When results for microelements like ferrous, sulfur, manganese, zinc, copper, magnesium and sulfur are compared, again they have showed higher values. It is also attributed to uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers[8]. When the results are compared with the standard value of soil as per Government of India, Sulfur and calcium are found almost 3 times higher than the normal recommended range. Copper is around 5 times higher than the normal accepted value. Zinc and Manganese are almost found in double the concentration than the recommended. Overall results of the study have shown that irrigated soils tend to retain more macro and micro elements. This is however beneficial for the plant growth but excess of them may affect the plant growth. When obtained data were analyzed using SPSS for independent t test and one-way ANOVA, most of the data are found absolutely significant where pvalue is found less than 0.001 except organic carbon, zinc, ferrous and copper, they have higher p-values.
image
image
Another comparative study of two major crops' is also done. These two crops are groundnut and cotton. Since longer period of time both the crops are been cultivated in respective fields. It is an assumption that these crops may also have affected the nutrient quality of soil. So analysis is done for the same. Results of obtained data are presented in table 3. Almost all the parameters have similar value except Zn, Mn and Ca.
image
In entire district, 1771 fields are growing groundnut while 1624 fields are growing cotton as their major crops. Comparison of various analyses has revealed that there is no significant difference between pH, EC, OC, P concentration, K concentration of both the fields. But a major difference is observed between zinc concentration, manganese concentration, copper concentration, calcium concentration. Overall results indicate that cotton growing fields’ have more concentration of microelements. Statistical analysis is showing that most of the data are significant except EC and potassium concentration.

CONCLUSION

From the overall study it is concluded that both irrigated and non-irrigated soils of the Bhesan village have sufficient but excess quantity of element. This will definitely promote the plant growth. Second another important observation is irrigated soil contain comparatively higher concentration of microelements.

References

  1. B. Shomar, “Major and trace elements in Nigella sative provide a potential mechianism for its healing effects,” Jounral Med. Plants Res., vol. 6, no. 34, pp. 4836–4843, 2012.
  2. R. A. Wuana and F. E. Okieimen, “Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soils: A Review of Sources, Chemistry, Risks and Best Available Strategies for Remediation,” ISRN Ecol., vol. 2011, pp. 1–20, 2011.
  3. P. Krasilniko, F. Carre, and L. Montanarella, Soil geography and geostatistics Concepts and Applications. 2008.
  4. Dept. of Agriculture and Cooperation, Methods manual Soil Testing in India. 2011.
  5. F. G. Fernández and R. G. Hoeft, “Managing Soil pH and Crop Nutrients,” in Illinois Agronomy Handbook, 1990, pp. 91–112.
  6. P. L. Patel, A. Gharekhan, N. P. Patel, and P. H. Patel, “Study of Micronutrients Through Statistical Data Treatment Of Agricultural Soil Of Bhuj And Mandvi Sites In Kutch District,” vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 135–142, 2014.
  7. L. Jia, W. Wang, Y. Li, and L. Yang, “Heavy metals in soil and crops of an intensively farmed area: a case study in Yucheng City, Shandong Province, China.,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 395–412, 2010.
  8. Y. Shao and Y. He, “Visible/near infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics for the prediction of trace element (Fe and Zn) levels in rice leaf.,” Sensors (Basel)., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1872–83, 2013.