Zinc fractions and their relationship with soil properties in rice growing soils of South Kashmir Dar Zahid A., Chesti M.H.*, Mir Shakeel, Baligah Hujjat Ul, Baba Zahoor A., Bhat M. Auyoub, Khan Inayat M., Mir Aamir H., Wani Fehim J.1, Sofi Khursheed A.2, Qadri Tabasum N.3 Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, SKUAST-Kashmir, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, 193201, Jammu and Kashmir, India 1Present address, Division of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, SKUAST-Kashmir, Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, 193201, Jammu and Kashmir, India 2Faculty of Forestry, SKUAST-Kashmir, Benhama, Jammu and Kashmir, India 3Degree College Pattan, Jammu and Kashmir, India *Corresponding author (Email: mhchesti@gmail.com)
Online Published on 06 October, 2022. Abstract A study was carried out during 2020–2021, to quantify different fractions of zinc (Zn) in rice growing soils of Kashmir valley. The area delineated for study was Anantnag and Kulgam districts located in South of Kashmir valley, owing to the fact that rice is the staple food of the valley grown on a large scale in this region. Ninety surface soil samples (0–25 cm), forty five from each district were collected and analyzed for various Zn fractions and soil properties. The sequential extraction scheme was used to fractionate Zn into water soluble-Zn, exchangeable-Zn, organically complexed-Zn, amorphous sesquioxide bound-Zn, crystalline sesquioxide bound-Zn and residual-Zn. The total-Zn was calculated as the sum of all the fractions which varied from 58.9 to 65.6 and 56.4 to 58.2 mg kg−1, respectively for the districts Anantnag and Kulgam. The labile fractions such as water soluble (1%) and exchangeable Zn (2–3%) contributed very little to total-Zn, whereas residual-Zn was the most dominant fraction, accounting for 69 to 72% of total-Zn. Among the physicochemical properties, soil pH and organic carbon were the key factors that governed the distribution of Zn in different chemical pools in both the districts. Top Keywords Rice, Soil properties, Zinc fractions, Correlation. Top |