An Asian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 6 No. 1 (June, 2011) : 11-16

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1 Research Paper An Asian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 6 No. 1 (June, 2011) : Received : December, 2010; Accepted : January, 2011 Distribution of different forms of sulphur in soil of Banaskantha district of Gujarat J.M. PATEL, M.V. PATEL, N.J. JADAV AND R.P. PAVAYA ABSTRACT Four hundred eighty soil samples from Banaskantha district were collected and analyzed to study the different forms of sulphur in soil. On an average, different forms of sulphur viz., total, organic, non-sulphate, sulphate, water soluble and heat soluble sulphur varied from to , to , to , 1.64 to 48.68, 4.09 to and 5.24 to mg kg -1, respectively in surface soil (0-15 cm depth), while to , to , to , 3.27 to 32.31, 3.27 to and 3.93 to mg kg - 1, respectively in subsurface soil (15-30 cm depth). In general, different forms of sulphur showed decreasing trend with soil depth. In the soils of district, the forms of sulphur followed the following trend: non-sulphate > organic > heat soluble > water soluble > sulphate sulphur. The soils of Banaskantha district had the highest fraction of non-sulphate sulphur (50.76 per cent) followed by organic sulphur (36.74 per cent) and sulphate sulphur (12.49 per cent) of the total sulphur. Patel, J.M., Patel, M.V., Jadav, N.J. and Pavaya, R.P. (2011). Distribution of different forms of sulphur in soil of Banaskantha district of Gujarat. Asian J. Soil Sci., 6(1): Key words : Sulphur fraction, Soil properties INTRODUCTION Sulphur recognized as fourth important plant nutrient after N, P and K and is gaining considerable importance in quality crop production in context of Indian agriculture, particularly when there is more and more use of non-s containing fertilizers as well as less use of organic manures. In India, nearly, 57 m ha of arable land suffers from various degree of sulphur deficiency (Tripathy, 2003). The availability of sulphur is largely dependent on its fractions. Sulphur exists in the soil as free and adsorbed sulphate and in diverse organic and inorganic compounds. In humid region, sulphur is largely present in organic form, while in arid soils, the sulphate salts of calcium, magnesium, sodium and even potash predominant (Kanwar, 1976). No detailed information is available on the status and distribution of various forms of sulphur. The present investighation was undertaken to study the distribution of different forms of sulphur in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four hundred eighty soil samples were collected from 0-15 cm and cm depth from 12 talukas (20 villages in one taluka) of Bannaskantha district during The soil samples were air dried, sieved through 2 mm sieve and analysed for important physico-chemical properties viz., particle size distribution, EC, ph, organic carbon, CaCO 3 and available N, P and K using standard chemical procedures. The soil samples were analysed for total sulphur (Chaudhary and Cornfield, 1966), organic sulphur (Bardsley and Lancaster, 1965), sulphate sulphur, water soluble sulphr and heat soluble sulphur ( Williams and Steinbergs, 1959). The soil samples were analysed for various forms of sulphur by adopting standard methods by Chesnin and Yien (1950) as suggested by Ensminger (1954). The non-sulphate sulphur was obtained by Correspondence to : J.M. PATEL, Department of Soil Science, Central Instrumentation Laboratory, Directorate of Research, S.D. Agricultural University, SARDARKRUSHINAGAR (GUJARAT) INDIA jmpatel68@gmail.com Authors affiliations: M.V. PATEL, N.J. JADAV AND R.P. PAVAYA, Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, C.P. College of Agriculture, S.D. Agricultural University, SARDARKRUSHINAGAR (GUJARAT) INDIA HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

2 J.M. PATEL, M.V. PATEL, N.J. JADAV AND R.P. PAVAYA subtracting the organic sulphur and sulphate sulphur from the total sulphur. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results obtained from the present investigation as well as relevant discussion have been presented under following heads: Soil properties: Characteristics of the soils and contents of different forms of sulphur present in soil are given in the Table 1 and 2, respectively. The soils of Banaskantha district were sandy to sandy clay loam in texture and alkaline in reaction. The majority of the soils were non-calcareous. These soils were low to medium in organic carbon, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and medium to high in available potassium. Total sulphur: The total sulphur content of surface soil (0-15 cm depth) varied from as low as to as high as with a mean value of mg kg -1, while it ranged from to with a mean value of mg kg - 1 in lower layer i.e cm depth. The highest overall mean value of total sulphur ( mg kg -1 ) was recorded in Danta taluka in eastern part and the lowest overall mean value (64.83 mg kg -1 ) was recorded in Vav taluka (western part) in upper layer of soil (0-15 cm). The considerable variation in the total sulphur content in soils might be due to varying cropping systems and parent materials (Aggarwal and Nayar, 1998). The values recorded in the present investigation are also comparable with total sulphur reported by Bhan and Tripathi (1973), Pandey et al.(1989), Om Prakash et al. (2003) and Jat and Yadav (2006) in different soils of India. The total sulphur content was found to decrease with increase in soil depth in all talukas. This might be due to decrease in organic matter and clay content at lower depth. The higher value of total sulphur observed in the surface soil might be due to addition of manures, fertilizers and higher organic matter content in the top soil. Similar results were obtained by Bhatnagar et al. (2003), Kundu (2006) and Patel and Patel (2008). Organic sulphur: The organic sulphur content in surface soil (0-15 cm depth) varied between to with an average value of mg kg -1 while in subsurface soil (15-30 cm depth), it was ranged from to with a mean value of mg kg -1. The highest mean values of organic sulphur i.e mg kg -1 in surface (0-15 cm depth) and mg kg -1 in subsurface (15-30 cm depth) soil were recorded in Danta taluka, while the lowest mean values of mg kg -1 in surface (0-15 cm depth) and mg kg -1 in subsurface (15-30 cm depth) were recorded in Vav taluka (Table 2). Similar range and mean values for organic sulphur were also observed by Patel and Patel (2008) in South Gujarat and Jat and Yadav (2006) in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. In general, the value of organic sulphur was low in soils having low organic carbon content as in case of Vav taluka. As the organic carbon content increased, the amount of organic sulphur also increased as was the case in soils of Danta, Kankarej and Deodar talukas. This trend of organic sulphur may be attributed to the decrease in organic carbon. The organic sulphur content was higher in surface soils as compared to subsurface soil. Balanagoudar and Satyanarayana (1990a) also observed a decrease in organic sulphur content with increase in depth due to reduction of organic carbon content at lower depths. The quantity of or ganic sulphur in present investigation was lower because the organic sulphur is a constituent of soil organic matter which is low due to rapid oxidation of organic matter by prevailing high temperature during summer month and low rainfall in these areas (Singh et al., 1993). The organic sulphur content was higher in surface soils as compared to subsurface soil. Balanagoudar and Satyanarayana (1990a) also observed a decrease in organic sulphur content with increase in depth due to reduction of organic carbon content at lower depths. Sulphate sulphur: Sulphate sulphur content ranged from 1.64 to with an average of mg kg -1 in surface soils (0-15 cm depth) while it ranged from 3.27 to with an average of mg kg -1 in sub suraface soil (15-30 cm depth). The results of sulphate sulphur showed wide variation in soils of twelve talukas of Banaskantha district. The highest overall mean value of sulphate sulphur (21.30 mg kg -1 ) was recorded in Danta taluka and the lowest overall mean value (10.88 mg kg -1 ) was recorded in Vav taluka in upper layer of soil (0-15 cm). The value of sulphate sulphur are in agreement with those reported by Bhan and Tripathi (1973) and Kumar and Singh (1999). The sulphate sulphur content was found to decrease with increase in depth in all the talukas. Patel and Patel (2008) also observed the similar trend. Non-sulphate sulphur: The non-sulphate sulphur was computed by HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 12 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

3 DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF SULPHUR IN SOIL HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 13 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

4 J.M. PATEL, M.V. PATEL, N.J. JADAV AND R.P. PAVAYA HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 14 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

5 DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF SULPHUR IN SOIL subtracting the sum of organic and sulphate sulphur from the total sulphur. The non sulphate sulphur content ranged from to with an average of mg kg -1 in surface layer, while it ranged from to with an average of mg kg -1 in subsurface layer. The increase or decrease in non-sulphate sulphur depends on the organic sulphur and sulphate sulphur in soils. The maximum range (62.92 to mg kg -1 ) was noticed in Palanpur taluka, while lower range (15.59 to mg kg -1 ) was noticed in surface soil in Vav taluka. Similar trend was also recorded in subsurface soil. Patel and Patel (2008), Kumar and Singh (1999) and Jat and Yadav (2006) also observed a similar distribution of non sulphate sulphur in the different soils of India. The non-sulphate sulphur content decreased with increase in depth. Similar type of results were observed by Kundu (2006). Water soluble sulphur: The water soluble sulphur ranged from 4.09 to with an average of mg kg -1 in surface layer, while it ranged from 3.27 to with an average of mg kg -1 in subsurface layer. Among different talukas, Danta taluka contained highest amount of water soluble sulphur while Tharad taluka has the lowest amount of water soluble sulphur. The water soluble sulphur was higher in surface soil as compared to subsurface soil. The mean values of water soluble sulphur are in conformity with the findings of Kumar and Singh (1999) and Patel and Patel (2008). Heat soluble sulphur: Heat soluble sulphur content varied from 5.24 to with an average value of mg kg -1 in surface soil, while it ranged from 3.93 to with an average value of mg kg -1 in subsurface soil. Comparatively higher amounts of heat soluble sulphur were recorded in Danta, Deodar and Kankarej taluka as compared to the other talukas. The values of heat soluble sulphur in Vav and Tharad taluka were lower than the other talukas of the district. The value of heat soluble-s are in conformity with the findings of Singh et al. (2006). The higher value of heat soluble sulphur was recorded in upper layer as compared to lower layer. This might be due to higher organic matter content in upper layer. Similar results were also observed by Patel and Patel (2008). The non-sulphate sulphur was found to occupy the major portion (50.76 %) of total sulphur in all talukas of Banaskantha district. The organic sulphur content of soils of Banaskantha district accounted for about % of the total sulphur content. The sulphate sulphur constituted HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 15 ] only per cent of total sulphur. The relative abundance of different forms of sulphur in Banaskantha district was of the following order. Non-sulphate > Organic sulphur > Heat soluble > Water soluble > Sulphate REFERENCES Aggarwal, V. and Nayyar, V.K. (1998). Available soil sulphur status and sulphur nutrient of wheat crop. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 46 (1): Balanagoudar, S.R. and Satyanarayana, T. (1990a). Depth distribution of different forms of sulphur in Vertisols and Alfisols. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 38 (4) : Bardsley, R.C. and Lancaster, J. D. (1965). Sulphur: Method of soil analysis, Vol. -II, I st ed. pp (Edited by C.A.Black) Academic Press, Inc. New York. Bhan, C. and Tripathi, B.R. (1973). The forms and contents of sulphur in some soils of U.P. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 21(4): Bhatnagar, R.K., Bansal, K.N. and Trivedi, S.K. (2003). Distribution of sulphur in some profiles of shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 51: Chaudhary, C.F. and Cornfield, A.H. (1966). The determination for total sulphur in soils and plant materials. Analyst, 91: Chesnin, L. and Yien, C.H. (1950). Turbidimetric determination of available sulphates. Proc. Soil Sci. American, 15 : Ensminger, L.E. (1954). Some factors affecting the adsorption of sulphate by Alabama soils. Soil Sci. Soc. American Proc. 18(3): Jat, J.R. and Yadav, B.L. (2006). Different forms of sulphur and their relationship with properties of Entisols of Jaipur District (Rajasthan) under mustard cultivation. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 54(2): Kanwar, J.S. (1976). Calcium, magnesium and sulphur. In: Soil Fertility: Theory and Practice Compiled and edited by Kanwar, J.S., ICAR, New Delhi. Pp Kumar, S. and Singh, V. (1999). Forms of sulphur in soils of younger alluvial plains of Rajasthan. Internat. J. Trop. Agric. 17 (1-4): Kundu, M.C. (2006). Distribution of different forms of sulphur in rice growing soils of Nadia district of West Bengal. Plant Archives, 6: Om Prakash, Malik, R.S., Kuhad, M.S.and Narwal R.P. (2003). Characterization of sulphure in rice-wheat growing soils of Haryana. Agril. Sci. Digest., 23(1) : Pandey, D.K. ; Tiwari, K.N and Tiwari, R.C. (1989). Different forms of sulphur in alluvial soils. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 37 (1): [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]

6 J.M. PATEL, M.V. PATEL, N.J. JADAV AND R.P. PAVAYA Patel, J.C. and Patel, K.C. (2008). Profile distribution of different forms of sulphur in prominent soil series of South Gujarat. Asian J. Soil Sci., 3(1): Singh, A.H., Singh, R.K.K., Singh, L.N., Singh, N.G., Chongtham, N. and Singh, A.K.K. (2006). Status and forms of sulphur in acidic soils of Manipur. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 54(3): Singh, S. ; Singh, R.K. ; Rana, N.K. and Sarkar, A.K. (1993). Forms of sulphur in some Ranchi soil of Chhotanagpur. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 41(3): Tripathi, N. (2003). Role of FCO in promoting quality secondary and micronutrients. Ferti. News, 48 : Williams, C.H. and Steinbergs, A. (1959). Soil sulphur fractions as chemical indices of available sulphur in some Australian Soils. Australia J. Agric. Res., 10: ******** ****** **** HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE [ 16 ] [Asian J. Soil Sci., 6 (1); (June, 2011)]