A Comparative Assessment of Soil Series Wise Fertility in Bheramara Upazilla of Kushtia District of Bangladesh between the Years 1995 to 2016

Aims: An experiment to quantify the changes in soil fertility in terms of available nutrient content was carried out between 1995 to 2016.

Study Design: The design of the study was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).

Place and Duration of Study: Bheramara upazilla of Kuahtia district in Bangladesh; between the years 1995 (considered as base line database) to 2016.

Methodology: Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) conducted semi-detailed soil survey at Bheramara upazilla of Kushtia district in 1995 and collected 18 soil samples and analyzed in the laboratory for chemical parameters. These data considered as baseline information for the present study (2016) and 18 soil samples were collected from the same or adjacent sampling point in 1995. Land use, organic matter application, crop yield and fertilizer use related information were also collected during the survey. Chemical analysis was performed in the regional laboratory, SRDI, Kushtia by following standard methods.

Results: Results revealed that soil pH and boron decreased significantly in most of the soil series. Organic Matter in all the series except Ganges silt significantly increased over the year. The variation in potassium content over the year was insignificant in all soil series except Sara series. In some soil series phosphorus and sulfur either increased or decreased over the year while soil zinc content did not varied significantly over the year.

Conclusion: Soil nutrient data of the study area revealed that most of the parameters assessed showed positive direction towards fertility development due to agricultural knowledge development and advance soil and fertilizer management practices.