Assessment of Soil Properties in Krishna Western Delta Ecosystem of Guntur district Andhra Pradesh

A study was conducted to assess the soil properties in Krishna western delta eco region in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. A total of 231 soil samples from 77 locations in three depths viz., 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm were collected for assessment. Soil properties viz., texture, pH, EC₂, ECe, CEC, ESP, organic carbon, water soluble, exchangeable ion composition and available N, P and K were analyzed. Half of the soils of the study area are with clay loam texture. Soil reaction is mostly moderately alkaline, non-saline, none to slightly alkali hazard at all three depths of the soil. The organic carbon is low (<0.5%) with 42, 91 and 100 per cent samples at 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm depth of soil respectively.Available nitrogen is low and available phosphorus is high at all the three depths of the soil. High available potassium was with the half of the soils at 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths of the study area. The study area consists of 87.01 per cent good soil, 9.09 per cent saline soil, 3.90 per cent saline alkali soil at 0-15 cm depth and 72.7 per cent good soil, 18.2 per cent saline soil, 9.09 per cent saline alkali soil at 15-30 and 30-60 cm depth of the soil for cultivation.