Physico-chemical analysis of soils in Madanapalle block, Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh

Soil is a mixture of minerals, gases, liquids and organisms that together forms the basis of life. The inherent capacity of soil to provide essential nutrients to crops describes the soil in terms of fertility. In the present study physico-chemical analysis of soils in Madanapalle town was analysed by selecting eight different villages and from each village 3 surface (0-15cm) soil samples were collected and analysed for physical and chemical parameters by using standard laboratory techniques. Accordingly it is found that soils are low in available nitrogen and available sulphur content with a mean value of 248.7 kg ha-1 and 0.25 mg kg-1, Medium to low in available phosphorus with a mean value of 13.7 kg/ha and medium to high in exchangeable potassium with a mean value of 481.6 kg ha-1. The pH of the soil samples were found to be neutral to alkaline in nature with a mean value 7.54. The electrical conductivity of soils was found to be free from salinity as the mean value was 0.45 dSm-1. The organic carbon status of soils was found to be medium to high with a mean value of 0.59. Nutrient index value of Madanapalle town was found to be high for organic carbon (2.45), low for nitrogen (1.41), low for phosphorus (1.62), high for potassium (2.58) and low for sulphur (1.00). The results strongly recommend that still improvement has to be done to improve the soil quality by practicing the better cropping systems instead of continuous cropping.