Geospatial Distribution of Iron in Major Sugarcane Growing Soils of Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India

The present study was undertaken to assess the available DTPA iron status in the major sugarcane growing soils of Southern Sivangai district, Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 500 geo referenced surface (0-30 cm) were collected from five blocks viz., Kalaiyarkovil, Padamathur, Sivagangai, Thiruppachetty and Thiruppuvanam and analyzed for basic soil properties and available DTPA iron. Simple correlation was worked out to ascertain the degree of relationship between soil properties and available DTPA iron content of soil study area. The available DTPA iron in the entire sugarcane growing soils ranged from 2.95 to 5.79 mg kg-1, 2.11 to 4.31 mg kg-1, 3.49 to 5.59 mg kg-1, 1.99 to 5.66 mg kg-1 and 3.94 to 6.39 mg kg-1 in soil samples of Kalaiyarkovil, Padamathur, Sivagangai, Thiruppachetty and Thiruppuvanam respectively. In the soil samples from Kalaiyarkovil, Padamathur, Sivagangai, Thiruppachetty, and Thiruppuvanam, the results revealed that 52, 59, 55, 53, and 51 % of the soils were deficient in available iron and 33, 29, 35, 30 and 32 % of the soils were moderate in available iron, and 15, 12, 10,5 and 17 % of the soils were sufficient in available iron. As per the nutrient index study, the soils of study area recorded very low to low fertility rating for available iron and the mean nutrient index value (NIV) ranged from 1.42 to 1.64 in the soil of the study area. SOC and CEC were found to have a beneficial impact on iron availability, whereas EC and CaCO3 levels had a negative impact on DTPA iron availability.