Soil health and nutritional aspects of protected cultivation

1. Soil Health and Nutritional Aspects of
Protected cultivation
Dr. Narender K Sankhyan
Scientist (Soils)
Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, CSK
HPAgricultural University, PALAMPUR(HP)
Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, CSK
HPAgricultural University, PALAMPUR(HP)

2. SOIL HEALTH
A nation that destroys its soils
destroys itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. SOIL HEALTHSOIL HEALTH
WHATEVER I DIG OF YOU, O EARTH
MAY YOU OF THAT HAVE QUICK
REPLENISHMENT
O PURIFYING ONE, MAY MY THRUST
NEVER
REACH UNTO YOUR VITAL
POINTS, YOUR HEART !!

4. Department of Soil Science
HIMACHALPRADESHAGRICULTURALUNIVERSITY
PALAMPUR(HP), 176 062, INDIA
Soil Health
Capacity of soil to sustain higher
yield while maintaining its quality
Chemical
And it is a combined effect of
Biological propertiesPhysical

5. Therefore, we need to constantly monitor the health of soil
resources and devise appropriate management strategies for sustained
productivity and least environmental degradation.
Present Day Problem in Indian Agriculture:
• Stagnation in crop productivity and slow down in agricultural
growth.
• Declining soil health is considered as one of the factors for
such a decline.

6. GENESIS OF THE SOIL HEALTH ISSUE
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Census year
Population(million)
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Population growth rate continued
to be more than 2 per cent per
annum
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
Year
Foodgrainproduction(Mt)
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Rate of food grain production was
more than population growth rate
till 1991. But, declined to 1.16
percent per annum in 1991 - 2001
Population and food grain production growth rate in India

7. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Census year
Population(million)
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
As at the National level, population
growth rate in Himachal also
continued to be more than 2 per cent
0
500
1000
1500
Year
Foodgrainproduction(Mt)
1971 1981 1991 2001
Rate of food grain production
declined from 2.50 in 1981 to -1.73
in 1991-2001
Population and food grain production growth rate in Himachal

8. Population, food grain production and per capita land
holding scenario
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1950 1975 2000 2025
Year
Population/
FoodGrainProduction
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
LandAvailability
Population (million)
Food Grain Production (million tonnes)
Holding/ caputa (ha/ person)

9. Protected Cultivation
 Long growing period
 HYV (hybrids)
 Vigorous plant growth
 Irrigation management
 High productivity
 Controlled environment
 Limited soil volume
 High nutrient removal
(kg/kg yield)

10. Soil Health Monitoring
Plant analysis
Soil analysis/testing
Crop response
Visual symptoms

11. Nutrients' required by plants
 Chemical analysis of plants may indicate the
presence of more than 90 elements but 16 of
them have been established to be essential
for successful growth and development of
plants as per the criteria of essentiality.
 Recently, some more elements viz.
vanadium, silicon, cobalt, sodium and nickel
have been found to be essential to some
plants.

12. Nutritional disorders
A constant and balanced supply of
these nutrients is essential for
normal plant growth.
Any imbalance among them leads
to the emergence of nutritional
disorders owing to deficiencies or
toxicities.

13. Deficiency symptoms
 Visual deficiency symptoms are generally
characteristic enough to permit easy identification
of the deficiency of a nutrient as they appear on
particular plant part on specific growth stages.
 In case the symptoms are less characteristic,
their presence need to be confirmed through soil
and plant analysis.
 The location of the symptoms of nutrient
deficiency on plants depends on the extant and
rate of nutrient mobility from older to new leaves.

14. Phloem mobility of plant Nutrients
Mobile Intermediate Immobile
N Zn Ca
P Fe B
K Mn
Mg Cu
Na S
Cl Mo

15. I d e n t if ic a t io n o f d e f i c ie n c y s y m p t o m s
D e f ic ie n c y s y m p t o m s
O l d a n d N e w l e a v e s T e r m i n a l b u d sO l d le a v e s N e w l e a v e s
N , P , K , M g , M o
K , M o
G r e e n v e in s
M g
S , F e , M n , C u C a , BZ n
D e a d s p o ts N o D e a d s p o t s G r e e n v e in s Y e ll o w v e i n s
N , P , M g F e , M n S , C u
Y e ll o w v e i n s
N

16. Nutritional
Disorders
Chlorotic appearance Poor and stunted growth
Less tillering Weak stems
Poor flowering Poor grain formation
General characteristics of Nutritional Disorders

17. DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS
 Complete crop failure at the seedling stage.
 Severe stunting of plants.
 Specific leaf symptoms appearing at varying times during
the season
 Internal abnormalities such as clogged conductive
tissues.
 Delayed or abnormal maturity
 Obvious yield differences, with or without leaf symptoms
 Poor quality of crops, including differences in protein, oil,
or starch content, and storage quality.
 Yield differences detected only by careful experimental
work

18. Nutritional becoming deficient

19. Green Revolution helped in achieving higher yields but led to multi
micronutrient deficiencies in crops
-Fe -Zn

20. Nutrient Critical level
Organic carbon 5-10 g/kg soil
Nitrogen 280-560 kg/ha
Phosphorus 10 -25 kg/ha
Potassium 118-260 kg/ha
Sulphur 22.5 kg/ha
Calcium 1.5 c mol (p+
) kg-1
Magnesium 1.0 c mol (p+
) kg-1
Iron 4.5 mg/kg
Manganese 1.0
Copper 0.2
Zinc 0.6
Boron 0.1
Molybdenum 0.1
Threshold deficiency level of nutrients in the Himalayan region

21. • Older leaf effected first and
young leaves remain green
for some time
• Plant become light green or
pale yellow colour from tip
towards the base of the leaf
• Lower leaves become yellow
including mid-rib and later
dry and fall
• Few tillers stalks become
short and slender
• N deficiency symptoms in all
crops are generally alike
with slight variation in some
crop
Visual symptoms or Plant appearance
Nitrogen (N)

22. Corn –
for N deficiency

24. Phosphorus (P)

26. • Leaves are dark green or
purplish with tip
• Green portion of leaves may
be gray green and base of
stem is purple
• Stunted growth and reduced
tillering
• Maturity is delayed leading
to poor grain yield
• Severe deficiency causes
yellowish red leaves starting
first in the lower mature
leaves from tip towards
base
Phosphorus (P)

28. • The affected leaves
appear faded out and
develop chlorosis
followed by appearance of
necrotic areas at the tip
and along the margins
extending inwards with
time
• The margins of the
affected leaves may roll
upwards
• Plant may bear shriveled
seeds
• Weak stalks that lodge
easily
Potassium (K)

33. The Mg-deficient leaves show
advanced interveinal chlorosis,
with necrosis developing in the
highly chlorotic tissue. In its
advanced form, magnesium
deficiency may superficially
resemble potassium deficiency.
In the case of magnesium
deficiency the symptoms
generally start with mottled
chlorotic areas developing in the
interveinal tissue
Magnesium.

34. Calcium
Calcium deficiency symptoms
appear initially as localised
tissue necrosis leading to
stunted plant growth, necrotic
leaf margins on young leaves
or curling of the leaves, and
eventual death of terminal
buds and root tips. Generally
the new growth and rapidly
growing tissues of the plant
are affected first.
Leads to blossom end rot

35. Blossom end rot in tomato

36. Blossom end rot in Capsicum

37. Symptoms begin as a water-soaked brown spot on the blossom end
(left), later developing into a black leathery rot

38. •S deficiency in crop first
appears on young leaves
•Generally yellowing of
leaves from tip towards
base
•In case of acute
deficiency the whole
plant appear Chlorotic or
pale yellow.
•The growth is restricted
and the plant looks
stunted
•Stem thin and woody
Sulphur (S)

41. •Symptoms first appear on the
second or third leaves from top of
the plant at tillering stage
•Leaves are thick, stalks will be
short
•The leaves develop minute
reddish brown spot which
coalesce to form reddish brown or
rusty in colour lesions, leading to
necrosis.
•The Zn-deficient plant generally
shorter inter-nodal length, small
ear and poor grain formation.
•Maturity is delayed
Zinc (Zn)

43. Corn –
for Zn
deficiency

47. •Young leaves affected first
•Interveinal chlorosis of the young
or new leaves
•Veins remain green, and with time
the affected leaves become papery
white, necrotic and ultimately die
•Under acute deficiency of Fe there
is bleaching of the affected leaves
and newly emerging leaves also
look white or bleached
•In some crops reddish spots may
also develops
Iron (Fe)

53. • Mn deficiency first appear
in middle to young leaves as
small Chlorotic spot in the
intervential area of the basal
part of the leaves and later
extended towards the tip.
•Veins remain green
•Small necrotic spots
develop on the leaves with
yellow stripes
•Stunted growth
•Ears are Small, weak and
twisted as sickle shaped
which emerges with great
difficulty
Manganese (Mn)

56. • In cereals, the young leaves
die off and the dead leaves
curl
•In dicot plants leaves are
malformed and cupped
•The plant produce more
tillers and basal part of the
plant remain green.
•The grain formation is
severely restricted.
Copper (Cu)

58. Cauliflower –
for B deficiency

59. Whiptail in cauliflower (Mo Deficiency)

60. Facts about Nutritional disorders
 Nutrient deficiency always appear on the plant leaf
 Nutrient deficiency always more in cool climate as compare to
warm climate
 Nutrient deficiency rarely occur in tap root crops
 Critical concentration for a cropping system provides better
solution of amelioration than the deficiency or sufficiency for
an individual crop.
 Nutrient deficiency symptoms if any in the field should be
identified as early as possible
 Diagnosis of nutrient deficiency in field becomes complicated
when :
– Multinutrient deficiency is there.
– Occurrence of deficiency and toxicity simultaneously
Remedial Measures

61. Remedial Measures
 Right choice of fertilizer material
 Right quantity of fertilizer material
 Right mode/method of fertilizer application
 Right time of application

62. Nutrient Soil Plant
N Apply recommended doses of nitrogenous
fertilizers e.g. Urea, CAN etc.
Foliar application of 2.0% urea
P Apply recommended phosphatic fertilizer
such as DAP, SSP or nitro phosphate
Foliar application of 1 to 2.0% DAP
K Apply Recommended doses of potassic
fertilizers e.g. Murate of Potash ,
sulphate of Potash
Foliar application of Murate of potash
@1.0% solution
S Apply gypsum@500kg /ha followed by
mixing and light irrigation
Foliar application of potassium sulphate
solution @ 0.5%
Zn 25 kg Zinc Sulphate/ha Foliar application of ZnSO4
@ 0.5% with
0.25% unslaked lime
Fe 50-100 kg Ferrous sulphate /ha Foliar application of FeSO4
solution @ 1.0%
Mn 40-50 kg Manganese sulphate /ha Foliar application of MnSO4
@ 0.5% solution
Cu 10 kg Copper sulphate /ha Foliar application of CuSO4
@ 0.2% solution
Suggested remedial measures

63. A fertile soil, busy workshop , and
easy conveyance for mean and
goods from place to place – these
three things make a nation great
and prosperous
- Francis Bacon

64. Thank You