Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, J.N. Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, 482004.
A greenhouse experiment was conducted to test the suitability of soil test methods for estimation of available sulphur in Vertisols using linseed as the test crop. The average contents of total, organic, adsorbed, sulphate and non sulphate-sulphur were 162.8, 106.2, 6.1, 10.3 and 39.4 mg kg−1, respectively. The contents of total, organic, adsorbed, sulphate and non sulphate-S as well as available-S extracted by Morgan's reagent, monocalcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate were related positively and significantly with all plant characteristics, viz., grain and straw yield, sulphur content and uptake by linseed. However, their correlations with non sulphate-S were nonsignificant. The degree of suitability of extractants for available-S to linseed crop was in the order of Morgan's reagent> monocalcium phosphate> sodium bicarbonate> ammonium acetate. Sulphate-S had a high degree of correlation with all the extractants.
Forms of sulphur, available sulphur, deficiency of S, linseed
