Follow up meetings we conducted during the month as to make the farmer aware of the need for soil testing. They were explained about the soil contains and the fertility. Before that the farmers were taken to a farmers seed mela arranged at District place by the agriculture department. The impact was that they got the seed from the department and learned soil collection method; farmers could also see different modern equipment for farming.
Why test your soil?
Soil testing can be a relatively simple, cost effective management strategy to help optimise profitability and correctly identify important soil problems; test results are particularly useful when making decisions on inputs. In an agricultural context, soil testing is commonly used:
• To help identify the main reasons for poor plant performance (diagnostic tests)
• To confirm nutrient status and warn of deficiencies
• To predict likely response to fertilizer rate and type for individual situations
• To monitor changes in soil health in response to changes in land use and management
The condition of a particular landscape, catchment or ecosystem can be assessed using a range of measurement parameters including biophysical, economic, social, management and institutional attributes (Walker, 1998) . Visual indicators such as soil surface crusting, erosion, and visible crop symptoms can alert us to problems and are often the first means of identifying a soil problem that is limiting production.
In agriculture, soil tests usually involve chemical extractions designed to measure ‘available’ nutrients and indicate nutrient deficiencies that may need to be remedied; but other kinds of tests include observations in the field, field testing (e.g. with a penetrometer for compaction), remote sensing (with satellites and aircraft), proximal sensing (e.g. with an EM38), and the compilation of existing data to provide more detailed information on soil condition and health. Soil testing not only allows landholders to assess the current soil condition, but also enables them to assess the impact of changed management practice on these indicators (i.e. it can be used to guide adaptive management).
Soil chemical tests are becoming increasingly important as a soil fertility and fertilizer management tool for efficient crop production, providing a useful basis for cost effective and environmentally responsible fertilizer decisions. There is always some uncertainty associated with any single soil test, so regular testing (say every 1 or 2 years) is much more useful than a single soil test. This allows the landholder to observe longer term trends in soil fertility, and ensures anomalous (or unusual) results in any one year become obvious. Armed with this information - together with plant tissue tests, your farm’s cropping, pasture and fertiliser history, and a strategy for each paddock (e.g. build up, replace, or run down the nutrient level) there is greater certainty in maintaining your soil resource for future production. Soil chemical tests are becoming increasingly important as a soil fertility and fertiliser management tool for efficient crop production, providing a useful basis for cost effective and environmentally responsible fertiliser decisions. There is always some uncertainty associated with any single soil test, so regular testing (say every 1 or 2 years) is much more useful than a single soil test. This allows the landholder to observe longer term trends in soil fertility, and ensures anomalous (or unusual) results in any one year become obvious. Armed with this information - together with plant tissue tests, your farm’s cropping, pasture and fertilizer history, and a strategy for each paddock (build up, replace, or run down the nutrient level) there is greater certainty in maintaining your soil resource for future production.
There are four main steps in soil testing: the collection of a representative soil sample; laboratory analysis; the interpretation of the analysis to provide a financial recommendation for fertilizer usage, and the recording of these steps for future reference and relating them to yield. Good records are an essential part of a soil testing and nutrient management program.
A multitude of soil tests are available including (but not limited to) soil nutrient levels [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), aluminium (Al, a toxic element)], soil physical properties (particle size analysis, moisture content, soil strength), soil chemical properties (soil acidity (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic matter) and soil contaminants such as pesticide residues or heavy metals. Soil testing is often performed by commercial laboratories that offer an extensive array of specific tests, but there is also a number of do-it-yourself kits available. Laboratory tests are more accurate and frequently include professional interpretation of results and recommendations, but due to cost may be done only on a smaller number of samples. On-farm diagnosis, though less accurate, allows a rapid and broad spectrum of soil analyses (e.g. pH, EC, soil dispersion and penetrometer measurements), and can be linked with on-farm trials to determine the preferred fertilizer and management strategy for individual paddock or management zones.
Seek advice from an independent agronomist if you need help in deciding which test (or tests) to conduct. In some cases, it may be sufficient to have very basic tests done, starting with pH. In other cases, a comprehensive analyses for major and trace elements, exchangeable cations and soil organic carbon levels will be more appropriate.
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