Evaluating the Soil Qulaity of Three Sub-Watersheds in Udayapur District, Nepal

Volume 5 - Issue 2

Manisha Ghimire, Ram Asheshwar Mandal* and Ajay Bhakta Mathema

Received: June 05, 2020;   Published: June 29, 2020

DOI: 10.32474/OAJESS.2020.05.000209

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Abstract

The soil health of sub-watershed indicates the function of the soil which can be evaluated using the soil quality index (SQI) but research regarding this so far limited. Thus, this research was objectively done to assess the soil nutrient status and soil quality index according to soil depth and compare these values in sub-watersheds. Three sub-watersheds namely Baruwa Khola, Puware Khola and Chituwa Khola of Udayapur district were selected as the study area. The soil was extracted from 0-10, 10-20 and 20- 30 cm depths so total 108 samples, 36 from each catchment were collected in W shape. The soil parameters N, P, K, C, pH, and soil texture were analysed using Kjeldahl method for nitrogen, Olsen’s and Somers method for phosphorous, Flame photometric method for potassium, Walkley and Black method for carbon and pH metre for pH. The SQI was calculated by using the formula proposed by Bajracharya. The result showed that soil was moderately acidic to nearly neutral with 5.95 and 7 pH at different soil depth. The dominant textures were sandy loam and loam. Soil quality index of three sub-watersheds were fair having the values 0.73 (0-10 cm), 0.67 (10-20 cm) and 0.69 (20-30 cm) in Baruwa Khola whereas 0.71 (0-10 cm), 0.71 (10-20 cm) and 0.78 (20-30 cm) in Puware Khola, similarly, 0.65 (0-10 cm), 0.67 (10-20 cm) and 0.69 (20-30 cm) in Chituwa Khola. Available Phosphorus was high at bottom, available Potassium at 20-30 and total Nitrogen was high at the top soil associated with values 4.9 kg/ha ,252.90 kg/ha and 0.126 % respectively in Baruwakhola followed by 11.34kg/ha 360.41kg/ha and 0.197 % in Puwarekhola followed by 2.81 kg/ha, 295.68 kg/ha and 0.89% in Chituwakhola. One-way ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in nitrogen (p=0.013) in Baruwa Khola sub-watershed. The value of SQI was found to be fair in all sub-watersheds Baruwakhola, Puware Khola and Chituwa Khola with 0.7, 0.73 and 0.67 respectively. This study will be useful for researcher for the further work in soil science.

Keywords: Organic Matter; Soil Nutrient Level; Soil Quality Index

Abstract| Introduction| Materials and Methods| Results and Discussion| Conclusion and Recommendation| References|