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The study 'Decoding soil health: a comparative analysis of chemical and biological properties in rural land use systems of northern Bangalore' was conducted at the Department of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, UAS, Bengaluru to investigate the influence of different land use systems on soil chemical and biological properties in the rural area of the northern transect of Bengaluru during the year 2021 to 2023. Three land use systems, namely agriculture, forest and barren land, were selected for the study. Twenty soil samples were collected from each land use system at a depth of 0-15 cm and analyzed for various chemical and biological properties. The pH levels were slightly acidic and significantly lower in cultivated agricultural land (5.55b) followed by uncultivated forest land (5.99ab), while the electrical conductivity (EC) values recorded were slightly higher in agricultural land (0.45 dSm-1) compared to forest (0.28 dSm-1) and barren (0.30 dSm-1) land use system. Acidic pH and increase in EC may be attributed to the application of inorganic fertilizers in cultivated agricultural land use systems. Available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents recorded were also found to be higher in agricultural land use systems (N- 329.66 kg ha-1, P- 35.29 kg ha-1, K- 265.82 kg ha-1) compared to forest (N- 218.85 kg ha-1, P- 20.39 kg ha-1, K- 235.53 kg ha-1) and barren (N- 164.33 kg ha-1, P- 13.88 kg ha-1, K- 159.84 kg ha-1) land use systems. Organic carbon content was found to be higher in natural forest systems (1.06%) compared to agriculture (0.67%) and barren (0.11%) land-use systems. Biological properties like dehydrogenase and urease activity recorded were found to be highest in forest land use system. The study clearly indicates that land use systems significantly influences the chemical and biological properties of the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was conducted in the farmer's field at Vijaypura, Bengaluru Rural District during kharif 2017, to study the effect of soil and foliar application of zinc on nutritional composition and uptake by knol khol. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with 10 treatments replicated thrice. The experimental results indicated that significantly higher nitrogen (2.36%), phosphorus (0.37%), potassium (1.60%), sulphur (0.65%) and zinc content (36.48 mg kg-1) was recorded in knol khol shoot by application of RDF and FYM along with 4 kg of zinc through ZnSO4 as soil application and 0.14 per cent zinc through zinc sulphate as foliar spray (T9). Significantly higher nitrogen (2.48%), phosphorus (0.39%), potassium (2.24%), sulphur (0.82%) and zinc content (38.67 mg kg-1) was recorded in knol khol knob with the combined soil and foliar application of zinc @ 4 kg and 0.14 per cent through zinc sulphate respectively, along with RDF and FYM (T9). Uptake of nitrogen (100.05 kg ha-1), phosphorous (15.70 kg ha-1), potassium (72.74 kg ha-1), sulphur (28.76 kg ha-1) and zinc (154.96 g ha-1) by knol khol crop was recorded significantly higher in T9 (4 kg of zinc through zinc sulphate as soil application + 0.14 per cent zinc through zinc sulphate as foliar spray along with RDF and FYM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of micronutrient application under different fertilizer prescription methods on yield, economics and post-harvest nutrient status of soil of Bt cotton at KVK farm, Chamarajanagar district, Southern Dry Zone of Karnataka (Zone 6). The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design with thirteen treatments and three replications during kharif 2016 and kharif 2017. The soil was slightly alkaline in reaction (pH: 7.95), low in nitrogen, medium in phosphorus, high in potassium and low in zinc (0.32 mg kg-1) and boron (0.18 mg kg-1). Significantly higher seed cotton yield (2329 kg ha-1) was recorded in the treatment NPK as per SSNM + micronutrient fertilizers foliar application at 80 and 100 DAS, followed by NPK as per UAS-B package + MNM foliar application at 80 and 100 DAS (2215 kg ha-1) and NPK as per SSNM + MNM soil application (2012 kg ha-1) treatments as compared to control. The treatments NPK as per SSNM + micronutrient fertilizers foliar application at 80 and 100 DAS and NPK as per UAS-B + micronutrient fertilizers foliar application at 80 and 100 DAS were significantly superior in economics and showed higher net returns and B : C ratio than any other treatment (Rs.77072, 2.75 and Rs.71714, 2.65, respectively). Post harvest soil showed higher N and P2O5 contents in the treatment with UAS-B nutrient management compared to SSNM. Soil available potassium was recorded higher in SSNM treatments. Exchangeable calcium and magnesium content of soil was significantly higher in treatments that received only NPK. Available micronutrients were higher in the treatments which received soil application of micronutrients along with macronutrients applied as per SSNM and UAS-B recommendations. SSNM method with micronutrient foliar application was found to be the better practice for sustaining soil nutrient status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research work was conducted in an order to get an insight about the status, availability and supplying behaviour of potassium (K) for a meaningful K-fertilizer management strategy for sustainable crop production in southern transect of Bengaluru during 2020-22. Eighty surface (0-15 cm) soil samples representing the southern transect of Bengaluru were collected for assessing the important physico-chemical properties and distribution of different forms of potassium viz., total K, lattice K, non-exchangeable K, exchangeable K, hot water soluble K and water soluble K. The average water soluble K, hot water soluble K, exchangeable K, non exchangeable K, lattice K and total K were 4.12, 6.76, 36.65, 477.61, 5376 and 5894 mg kg-1, respectively in southern transect of Bengaluru. The average shares of lattice potassium, non exchangeable, exchangeable and water soluble to the total potassium were 91.21, 8.10, 0.62 and 0.07 per cent, respectively. Results of the study revealed that the different forms of K content in the soils of selected land use systems were in the descending order: Agriculture > Mulberry > Vegetable > Plantation. Among the forms of K, correlation studies showed that water soluble K had significant positive correlation with sand (r²=0.938, pd"0.05), while exchangeable K (r² = 0.922, pd ≤ 0.05), lattice K (r² = 0.959, pd ≤ 0.01) and total K (r² = 0.953, pd ≤ 0.01) was found to be significant and had a positive correlation with organic carbon and the same forms of had negative correlation with sand. All the forms of soil potassium were interrelated, indicating the existence of a dynamic equilibrium among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted in farmers field's in rural and peri-urban southern transact of Bengaluru during kharif 2019 to assess the effect of different levels of nitrogen and zinc on quality of maize grain, nutrient content and uptake by maize. Experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized complete block design with ten treatments and three replications. Three levels of nitrogen (0, 150 and 200 kg ha-1) and three levels of zinc (0, 2.1 and 4.2 kg ha-1) was applied in combination with recommended dose of phosphorus, potassium along with FYM. Application of 200 kg N ha-1 + 4.2 kg Zn ha-1 + RDP and K + 10 t ha-1 FYM recorded significantly higher oil content (4.07 and 4.04 %) and protein content (9.52 and 9.03 %) in grains of maize grown in rural and peri-urban, respectively. Significantly higher content of nitrogen (1.40 and 0.80 %), phosphorus (0.29 and 0.22 %), potassium (0.57 and 1.13 %) and zinc (30.50 and 21.80 ppm) in grain and strover of maize in rural with application of 200 kg N ha-1 + 4.2 kg Zn ha-1 along with RDP and K + 10 t ha-1 FYM. Same treatment recorded significantly higher total content of nitrogen (1.23 and 0.75 %), phosphorus (0.26 and 0.21 %), potassium (0.46 and 0.89 %) and zinc (25.57 and 11.67 ppm) in grain and stover of peri-urban grown maize. Hence, judicious application of nutrients to correct deficiency can increase nutrient content and finally productivity of the crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted to assess the effect of different levels of nitrogen and zinc application on soil nutrient status, after harvestof maize in rural (Kaggalahalli) and peri-urban (Taralu) areas of southern transact of Bengaluru during kharif 2019. Ten different treatments with three replications each were carried out in randomized complete block design. Application of 200 kg N ha-1 + 4.2 kg Zn ha-1 + RDP and RDK + 10 t ha-1 FYM resulted in significantly higher soil available nitrogen (273.30 and 234.03 kg ha-1), available phosphorus (43.98 and 38.67 kg ha-1), available potassium (262.08 and 223.27 kg ha-1), exchangeable calcium [4.75 and 3.81 c mol (p+) kg-1], available sulphur (32.58 24.71 ppm) and DTPA extractable zinc (0.50 and 0.42 ppm) in rural and peri-urban, respectively compared to absolute control. Whereas, exchangeable magnesium [2.71 c mol (p+) kg-1] was found significant only in rural (Kaggalahalli) soil. Hence, application of higher amount of deficient nutrient with recommended dose of fertilizer and organic manure (200 kg N ha-1 + 4.2 kg Zn ha-1 + RDP and RDK + 10 t ha-1 FYM) helps in improving the soil fertility and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AN experiment was carried out to characterize soil and water quality in northern transect of Bengaluru during 2018-19 in the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru. Two-hundred surface soil samples were collected in rural and peri-urban under different land-use systems and forty-eight samples from urban area. Results indicated that soils were strongly acidic to alkaline (4.33 - 8.55), non-saline (< 1 dS m-1). The SOC (0.63 %), available N (350.56 kg ha-1), P2O5 (46.04 kg ha-1), K2O (255.59 kg ha-1), Fe (9.41 mg kg-1), Zn (0.74 mg kg-1) and Mn (6.46 mg kg-1) were recorded highest in rural soils except Cu (1.41 mg kg-1). However, exchangeable Ca (<1.5 meq 100 g-1) and available boron (< 0.5 mg kg-1) were recorded deficient. Majority of water samples collected from lakes of peri-urban (2) and urban (3) were not suitable for irrigation compared to ground water collected from rural, peri-urban and urban areas. Ten soil profiles consisting of four profiles in each rural and peri-urban and two profiles in urban were selected to study the profile characters and nutrient status. Soil structure of profile was sub angular blocky, available N, P2O5, S, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were decreased with increasing depth. Exchangeable Ca, Mg, Na, CEC, BS and ESP content of all the profiles increased with depth except potassium. Two field experiments were conducted in the farmer's field during kharif 2018-19 to study the impact of different levels of Ca and B on growth, yield and quality of tomato. Among different treatments T10 (Ca @ 10 kg ha-1 + B @ 2.2 kg ha-1 + RDF + FYM) recorded significantly higher growth, yield and fruit quality in both rural and peri-urban soils followed by T9 (Ca @ 10 kg ha-1 + B @ 1.1 kg ha-1 + RDF + FYM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]