Soil quality assessment using selected physico-chemical indicators in Altit Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan
Paper Details
Soil quality assessment using selected physico-chemical indicators in Altit Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan
Abstract
Soil is the most vital non-renewable natural resource, which perform major environmental functions. Soil is an actively living system which consist diversity of micro and macro fauna and flora, which plays major role in maintaining the soil quality. Soil micro organisms are responsible for the decomposition of organic matter in soil, thus soil quality assessment is very important to maintain the ecological processes in soil. Soil chemical and physical properties can be used as indicators of soil quality assessment. That’s why soil quality assessment is important for agro sustainable development. The aim of this study is to provide base line information set, on soil quality assessment of Altit Hunza. Physiochemical and fertility status of Altit soil Hunza-Nagar of Pakistan were investigated during 2013-2014. The whole location was divided into four clusters, form each cluster soil samples were collected from agriculture, orchards and forest area. Total 120 soil samples have been collected, 30 soil samples from each cluster. The investigated soil properties were pH, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Available Phosphorus (P), Exchangeable Potassium (K). Two way ANOVA was applied to determine the significant differences of soil properties with respect to Clusters and land use. Soil pH, EC, TN and K showed highly significant differences p<0.01, p<0.01, p<0.05 and p<0.01 with respect to clusters.
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Sultan Ishaq, Farida Begum, Karamat Ali, Sher Ahmed, Shaukat Ali, Haibat Ali, Sher Sultan Baig, Mohd. Zafar Khan, Salar Ali (2015), Soil quality assessment using selected physico-chemical indicators in Altit Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan; JBES, V6, N1, January, P454-459
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