Nutrient Deficiencies and their Management in Soils of the Semi-Arid Tropical Regions

Abstract

In the semi-arid tropics (SAT) regions, the loss of soil, organic matter, and nutrients are of great concern. Nutrient imbalance in the case of major plant nutrients has been reported for a long period of time as a result of decline in soil organic carbon status in the rainfed areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In India, the results of analysis of a large number of soil samples collected from farmers fields in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, showed that the samples were low in organic carbon, low to medium in available phosphorous (P), medium to high in potassium (K), low in sulphur (S), boron (B) and Zinc (Zn)