Impact of fertigation on soil nutrient distribution in Dalbergia sissoo tree plantations

Fertigation is the application of water-soluble solids/liquid fertilizers through drip irrigation. Standardizing nutrient management with a micro-irrigation system would require consideration to be contributed to soil nutrient dynamics. The present study was conducted to standardize water and nutrient requirement for raising this tree species in high density plantation and to study the distribution of nutrients in soil sub-surface using SURFER software. The results revealed that the available N content decreased as the distance from the plant increased and was found to be the lowest at 90 cm lateral distance and 30–60 cm vertical depth in subsurface soil. In this investigation, available P content was the highest at 30 cm distance laterally and vertically. The distribution of K was decreased with increasing depth. Nutrient distribution study revealed that irrigation level at 125% PE and fertigation @ 100% RDF (150: 100: 100 kg N, P and K ha⁻¹) recorded the highest soil N, P and K status at 30 cm lateral distance and horizontal depth of 0–30 cm.