*Corresponding author email: srinivasan.surya@gmail.com Madras Agric. J., 100 (1-3): 747-750, March 2013 Soil fertility, compactability and erodibility are the elements of soil quality. Among these elements, the problem of decline in soil fertility endangers the maximum the growth in productivity (Katyal, 2003). Warren and Agnew (1988) described that of all the threats to sustainability, the threat due to soil fertility depletion is the most serious. Depending upon the cropping pattern, leaching, erosion etc., soil looses a considerable amount of nutrients every year. If cropping is continued over a period of time without nutrients being restored to the soil, its fertility will be reduced and crop yields will decline. Poor soil fertility conceives sparse plant cover, which promote erosion vulnerability. This happens because 90% of plant available N and S, 50-60% K, 25-30% P and almost 70% of micronutrients reside in organic matter (Stevenson, 1982). Soil fertility is meant for highlighting the nutrient needs, based on fertility status of soils (and adverse soil conditions which need improvement) to realise good crop yields. In India, cashew is mostly grown on laterite and red soils and coastal sands in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal. The fertility status of these soils varies widely. The most fertile soils occurring on which cashews are grown is the forest soils on the Western slopes of the Western Ghats in Kerala and Dakshina Kannada district of Coastal Karnataka. The coastal sands of part of Distribution of Available Macro and Micronutrients in Cashew Growing Soils of Dakshina Kannada District of Coastal Karnataka *R. Srinivasan 1 , A. Natarajan 2 , K.S. Anil kumar 2 and D. Kalaivanan 3 1 National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, RC, Kolkata-700091, India 2 National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, RC, Bangalore-560024, India 3 Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur-574 202, DK, Karnataka, India Available macro and micronutrient status of soils of cashew growing regions of Coastal Karnataka was carried out in Dakshina Kannada district to help in determining the potential of the soils to supply nutrients for crop growth. Six pedons viz., Pala hillock, NRCC-Shanthigodu, Muchipadavu, Mulia, ARS Ullal and Palikudel were studied throughout the major cashew growing areas of Dakshina Kannada district representing the major climatic zones. The macro and micronutrients status of collected soil samples were analyzed by using standard analytical procedures. Results indicated that the available nitrogen status was found to be varying from low to medium in all the pedons. Further, the soils were low in available phosphorus, low to medium in available potassium and low to medium in available sulphur. Among the DTPA extractable micronutrients, iron and manganese were sufficient in most soils, available copper was sufficient and available zinc was deficient. The available macronutrient and micronutrient status was found to decrease with increasing depth of the soils. Phosphorus and zinc were highly deficient in all the pedons. Key words: Macronutrients, Micronutrients, Cashew and Coastal soils Dakshina Kannada district on which cashew are often grown are very poor in fertility and the yields are low in these soils unless the trees are fertilized regularly. The laterite soils of Dakshina Kannada district vary considerably in depth, texture and other physical and chemical properties. Available macro and micronutrient status in soil profile help in determining the soils potential to supply nutrients for crop growth. Soil testing provides information regarding nutrient availability in soils which forms the basis for the fertilizer recommendations for maximising the crop yields. In order to provide a base line data and information on available nutrients status, the present study was undertaken in major cashew growing soils of Dakhsina Kannada district of Coastal Karnataka. Materials and Methods The study was undertaken in six pedons from four taluks of Dakshina Kannada district of Coastal Karnataka during 2009 -11. The area receives a mean annual rainfall ranged from 3592 to 3842 mm. The mean annual temperature is 27.6 ï C and mean maximum and minimum temperature are 36 ï C and 20 ï C respectively. The area has ustic moisture regime and isohyperthermic temperature regime. The soil samples collected were analysed for macro and micro nutrient contents following standard procedure. Short Note