Ammonium Fixing Capacities of West Bengal Soils

A laboratory incubation study on 21 soils of West Bengal revealed that the NH₄⁺ fixing capacity varied from 1.52 to 13.62 m.e./100g soil and its fixation due to 200 ppm of applied N varied from 0.69 to 2.87 m.e., corresponding to 2.87 to 4.50% of applied N. Fixation due to 200 ppm applied N was found to be significantly correlated with clay and CEC of soils, whereas fixing capacity did not correlate with either CEC or clay content. However, when three soils containing very high org. matter were excluded, fixing capacities were found to be correlated with CEC.