Department of Agricultural Chemistry&Soil Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur-313 001, India
Present address: PAU, Regional Research Station, Bathinda-151 001, (Punjab), India
*Corresponding author's e-mail: bkyadav74@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 7 December, 2015.
A field investigation was carried out in five tehsils of Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India to study the variation in soil biological properties. Acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, phytase, microbial biomass C (MBC), N (MBN) and P(MBP) ranged between 1.10–3.45 μg PNP/g soil/h, 2.45–8.42 μg PNP/g soil/h, 4.15–12.42 μg Pi/g soil/h, 27–52 mg/kg, 5.7–10.9 mg/kg and 1.10–4.10 mg/kg, respectively. Microbial population washigher in the rhizosphere soil compared to non-rhizosphere soil with maximum in Jodhpur (12.85%) followed by Bhopalgarh (11.24%) and Osian (10.70%). In general, phytase activity in soil was 1.4 and 2.75 times higher compared to acid and alkaline phosphatase activities. On an average, the rhizosphere soils contain 12%, 11% and 15% more biomass C, N and P compared to non-rhizosphere soil. Microbial population showed positive and significant correlation with nutrient availability and microbial properties.
Arid soil, Biological properties, Enzyme activity, Legumes, Microbial population
