Soil Quality Indicators as an Assessment Tool to Maximize the Productivity of Pulse Crops

The present research investigation was taken up during 2017-2019 to evaluate the properties and fertility status of soils through physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil quality in the major pulse growing regions which were classified into three categories viz., low yielding (< 400kg ha-1), medium (400 to 700 kg ha-1) and high yielding (> 700 kg ha-1). 300 samples collected from these zones were subjected to analysis and weight ages were assigned to each soil quality attribute through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and those that explain at least 5% of the variation in the data were examined by using SPSS software. The mean percentage of water stable aggregates was the highest (51%) in high yielding soils which can be attributed to the beneficial effect of organic manure application and balanced fertilizer usage. Most of the samples in the high yielding soils were neutral to slightly alkaline (pH of 7.20 to 7.85), while that of medium and low yielding soils were moderately alkaline and neutral to slightly alkaline respectively. However low yield category had an average cation exchange capacity of 12.2 c mol (p+) kg-1, whereas that of medium and high yield categories recorded 21.8 and 36.9 c mol (p+) kg-1 respectively. The soils of high, medium and low yield zones recorded 282,234 and 138 kg ha-1 of available nitrogen respectively. The sulphur status in pulse growing soils revealed deficiency in 88 percent of the samples from low yielding zones which needs due attention. The overall results of the study concluded that the higher values of soil attributes such as aggregate stability, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon, available nitrogen, available potassium and extractable micronutrients corresponded well with the high yield category indicating the importance of these soil quality indicators for improving the pulse productivity in low yield zones.