Soil testing is an important diagnostic tool for determining the nutrient needs for plants and for environmental assessments. Some soils are inherently deficient in plant nutrients. Other soils had sufficient levels of nutrients in the past, but removal with crop harvest has depleted the reserves. Thus, soil testing is widely accepted and used in most advanced crop-production areas in India to determine fertilization needs for crops. For that Govt of India introduces the scheme of “SOIL HEALTH CARD” programme in each and every state to evaluate the agricultural soil health and recommends for fertilizer use and crop suitability to the farmers.
So it is very useful tool to determine economically optimum nutrient application rates, and use of soil testing for agricultural assessments.
The Following are the Tests performed for Soil Testing.
Product of test | Specific Test Performed | Discipline | Test method |
---|---|---|---|
Soil | Boron as B | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B: 1996 |
Soil | Cadmium as Cd | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B : 1996 |
Soil | Calcium as Ca | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Chlorides as Cl | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson : 1958 |
Soil | Chromium as Cr | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B : 1996 |
Soil | Conductivity | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Copper as Cu | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B : 1996 |
Soil | Hexavalant Chromium as Cr 6+ | Chemical | USEPA 3060 B : 1996 |
Soil | Iron as Fe | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B : 1996 |
Soil | Lead as Pb | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B: 1996 |
Soil | Loss on drying at 550 degree C | Chemical | FAO method : 2006 |
Soil | Magnesium as Mg | Chemical | Soil Analysis ML Jackson : 1958 |
Soil | Manganese as Mn | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B: 1996 |
Soil | Moisture | Chemical | IS 2720 : Part 2: 1973 |
Soil | Nitrogen as N | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Oil & Grease | Chemical | USEPA 3540 C : 1996 |
Soil | pH | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Phosphorous as P | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Potassium as K | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Sodium as Na | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson : 1958 |
Soil | Sulphate as SO4 | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson : 1958 |
Soil | Total organic carbon | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Total organic matter | Chemical | Soil Analysis - ML Jackson: 1958 |
Soil | Zinc as Zn | Chemical | USEPA 3050 B: 1996 |