Soil Quality Assessment in Dehradun District

Soil harbours mixture of various organic and inorganic nutrients which supports the land plants but the multifarious activities of human pollutes it. The physicochemical study of soil parameters is important for plant growth and soil management. The present work is thus attempted to evaluate physico chemical parameters of soil samples to assess its quality. Four representative samples in triplicate were obtained and analyzed for its colour, texture, moisture content, organic carbon content, TDS, pH, EC, Ca+2, Mg+2, Cl-. Results show that most of soils were little alkaline having pH ranged from 7.6-8.1 except site 2 where pH 5.1 was observed. The value of electrical conductivity ranged between 0.30-0.73 μ.S/cm indicating the normal nature of soil. Moreover, the soils were having organic carbon ranging between 0.31%-0.80%. The Ca+2, Mg+2 content ranged between 35.3-66.3mg/l while Cl- ranged between 30.1-38.3 mg/l. This information will be beneficial for environmentalists to assess the factors responsible for the variation of soil parameters in different sites and to the farmers to evaluate the fertility and nutrient status of the soil for precise farming and agricultural managemen