Nutrient potential of underground irrigation water in Ferozepur district

A detailed village-wise survey of water samples of Ferozepur district was carried out for assessing the supply of K, N and S from underground irrigation waters. For this purpose 500 water samples were collected from 50 villages of ten development blocks of Ferozepur district. Potassium and sulphate concentrations varied from 0.05 to 2.47 and 0.34 to 65 me L⁻¹ with mean values of 0.26 and 8.85 respectively. Nitrate-N concentration varied from nil to 20 mg L⁻¹ with a mean value of 3.93. On an average, it is estimated that one hectare foot of irrigation water supplies 11.8, 31.2 and 425 kg of NO₃⁻-N, K and S, respectively in this district. Quality of tubewell water for irrigation changes with time. There is a tendency towards increasing trend in EC and RSC over a period of 15 months. Thus, quality of irrigation water is deteriorating with time in this area.