Soil fertility status of some villages in Phiringia block of Kandhamal district under North-Eastern Ghat agro climatic zone of Odisha, India

A soil fertility status inventory work was carried out in few villages of Phiringia block in Kandhamal district located in the North-Eastern Ghat Agroclimatic Zone of Odisha, India. Results show that soil texture of villages under investigation varied from loamy sand to clay loam. Clay content varied from 9.2 to 28.4 percent. Soil pH ranged between 4.33 to 6.6 and electrical conductivity of the entire study area remained below 1 dSm-1. Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) content ranged between 2.3 to 9.7 g kg-1. Available nitrogen content in these soils was found to be varying between 88.0 and 263.0 kg ha-1. Available Bray’s phosphorus content varied from 5.0 to 56.0 kg ha-1. Available soil potassium content varied widely from 130.0 to 997 kg ha-1. CaCl2 extractable soil sulphur varied from 1.2 to 11.3 mg kg-1. Hot water soluble boron content ranged from 0.60 to 0.97 mg kg-1. All the figures in lower range were found in upland soils while the higher values for all the parameters were found in low land soils.