A Comparison of Several Methods of Lime Requirement of Some Acid Soils of West Bengal

The lime requirement of twelve acid soils from West Bengal as determined by calcium carbonate incubation method showed significant correlation with organic matter content, exchange acidity, exchangeable and extractable aluminium but not with pH, clay content or cation exchange capacity. It also had significant relationship with the product of increase in pH value due to liming and the organic matter content of soil. The lime requirement determined by the other buffer methods showed highly significant correlation with the same obtained by CaCO₃ incubation. Because of its speed and simplicity the procedure given by Shoemaker et al. (SMP) is recommended for adoption in routine soil testing work.