Studies on soil fertility, nodulation status in pea crop and cultural practices of pea growers in cold desert Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh

Pea (Pisumsativum L) is the only cash vegetable crop of significance in Spiti Valley and is cultivated only in summers. However the production is beset with many problems such as excess use of seeds, imbalanced fertilizer usage and lack of availability of quality seeds. The present investigations were undertaken at Regional Horticultural Research Sub-Station, Tabo, Spiti, HP and Department of Soil Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, HP during the year 2010–11. The soil and plant samples were collected and analysed from 15 major pea growing locations in Spiti Valley. The perusal of the data revealed wide variation in soil nutrient composition. Soil pH at all locations was saline. The available phosphorus in the soil samples was high to very high while potassium was medium to high. The organic carbon content in most samples was moderate to high. The nodule number per plant showed wide variation in peas. The nodule protein and leghaemoglobin content in the plants also varied considerably. The survey to study traditional practices revealed that the seed is broadcast in large quantity rather than sowing in lines resulting in over-expenditure on seed. The present findings show that the manure and fertilizer application needs to be done on the basis of soil test reports in Spiti valley. Alternative methods of sowing such as line sowing and sowing after ploughing need to be adopted after some modifications.