Soil Nutrient

Soil Nutrient single or compound used as raw material for the development and growth of living organisms, for example carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, etc. The elements drawn as nutrients from the soil by plants are often classified according to their role in the yield of crops into primary essential elements N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus), K (potassium); secondary elements, Ca (calcium), Mg (magnesium), S (sulphur); micronutrient elements ie Fe (iron), Mn (manganese), Zn (zinc), Cu (copper), B (boron), Mo (molybdenum), Co (cobalt), Cl (chlorine), Ni (nickel).

The bangladesh soils show considerable variations in supplying nutrients to the plants because of the heterogeneous nature of parent materials and variations in the organic matter content of the soils. Almost all the soils of Bangladesh are deficient in nitrogen due to the low organic matter content of the soils. Phosphorus is deficient in strongly acidic and calcareous soils. Its content is particularly low in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain, Old Brahmaputra Floodplain, Active Ganges Floodplain, Gopalganj-Khulna Beel, Sylhet Basin, Level Barind Tract, High Barind Tract and Madhupur Tract soils. The potassium status of most hill soils, Surma-Kushiyara soils and Tista floodplain soils is low. Terrace and Piedmont soils are low to medium in potassium. Sulphur deficiency is acute and widespread in light textured soils and irrigated areas where high yielding varieties have been introduced. Sulphur deficiency has been reported in the soils of Dhaka, Barisal, Faridpur, Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong, Mymensingh, Tangail, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Jessore, Kushtia, Bogra, Pabna, Rajshahi and Khulna districts.

Calcium and magnesium are deficient in the barind tract, madhupur tract and acid sulphate soils of Bangladesh. Zinc deficiency has been noticed in the calcareous soils of the Gangetic Floodplain, continuously wet soils in irrigated areas, soils with high organic matter content, like peat soils, high pH saline soils and light coloured Piedmont Plain soils. Very recently deficiencies of boron and molybdenum have been identified in localised areas in Non-calcareous alluvium, Non-calcareous floodplain, Piedmont, Terrace and Hill soils. The natural nutrient supplying capacity of only the Ganges Tidal floodplain is high, and that of Aria1 Beel, the Lower Meghna River floodplain and the Sylhet Basin is medium to high. All other regions of Bangladesh are low to medium. Severe fertility limitations exist in physiographic units of the Northern and Eastern Piedmont Plain, Level Barind Tract, High Barind Tract, Madhupur Tract, Akhaura Terrace and the Northern and Eastern Hills. [Sirajul Hoque]