Soil fertility status of Faridkot district

Soil fertility status of Faridkot district of Punjab based on the analysis of 1706 soil samples received in the soil testing laboratory, PAU Ludhiana from January 1996 to December 2007 has been assessed. ArcGIS 9.2 software was used to extrapolate the information for preparing six thematic maps and overall soil fertility status map of the district. Soils are predominantly coarse textured. Soil fertility status based on per cent samples have been compared with per cent area based on ArcGIS mapping for all the parameters. The results of pH, EC and available K by the two methods are almost comparable. The results indicated that 73 per cent samples are low, 26 per cent are medium and one per cent samples are high in OC content. The actual area calculations based on the ArcGIS showed that 86 per cent of the area is low, 13.8 per cent is medium and only 0.2 per cent of the area is high in OC content. Similarly, results based on per cent samples collected, indicated that 48, 30, 18 and 4 per cent samples are low, medium, high and very high in available P, respectively. The actual area calculations based on GIS software indicated that 21, 53, 22 and 4 per cent is low, medium, high and very high in available P, respectively. Most of the villages are low in organic carbon, low to medium in available P and high in available K.