Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(1): 479-490 479 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.701.057 Enzyme Activities and Nutrient Status in Soil under Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L.) Plants in Semi-Arid Region of Punjab, India B.K. Yadav * and Navjot Gupta Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Station, Bathinda-151001, Punjab, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 01 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The present study was aimed to evaluate the enzyme activities and nutrient status of ber orchard in semi-arid region of Punjab. Surface (0-15cm) soils showed 11.3% and 26.0% higher DHA as compared to subsurface (15-30 cm) and (30-60cm) layers, respectively. Like DHA, surface (0-15cm) soils showed 10.5% and 25.0% higher acid phosphatase as compared to subsurface (15-30 cm) and (30-60 cm) soils, respectively. Whereas, in surface soils (0-15 cm) 16.6 % and 20.7% higher alkaline- phosphatase was reported as compared to subsurface soils (15-30 cm) and (30-60 cm), respectively. On an average, pH ranged from 7.64 to 8.45 with mean value of 8.1 in surface (0-15cm) soils. However, it varies from 7.87 to 8.65 with mean value of 8.3 in upper subsurface (15-30 cm) and from 7.86 to 8.78 with mean value of 8.4 in lower subsurface (30-60 cm) soils. The EC varies from 0.25-0.59 dSm -1 in surface (0-15 cm) with mean value of 0.35 dSm -1 , 0.21-0.47 dSm -1 in sub-surface soils (15-30 cm) with mean value of 0.31dSm -1 and 0.20-0.38 dSm -1 in sub- surface (30-60 cm) soils with mean value of 0.26 dSm -1 . In surface soils the CaCO 3 varies from 1.02 to 2.11% with mean value 1.57 %. The CaCO 3 content increased with increase in depth and observed 1.19 to 3.15 % with mean value 2.21 % in subsurface (15-30 cm) soils, 2.03 to 3.44 % with mean value 2.65 % in subsurface (30-60 cm) soils. The organic carbon content in soil decreased with increase in soil depth and reported 36 % and 51 % low in subsurface soils (15-30cm) and (30-60 cm) as compared to surface soils (0-15 cm). The surface soils (0-15 cm) contains 1.2 and 2.8 times more P compared to subsurface soils (15-30 cm) and (30-60 cm). The K content was decreased with depth, but no deficiencies were reported. The surface soils (0-15 cm) contain 1.3 and 1.8 times more SO 4 -S compared to subsurface (15-30 cm) and (30-60 cm) soils, respectively. The organic carbon had significantly positive correlation (r = 0. 737*, P< 0.05), (r = 0.570*, P< 0.05), (r = 0.690*, P< 0.05) with dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase, respectively. A significant and positive correlation (r = 0.647*, P< 0.05) of available P was recorded with organic carbon. A significant and positive correlation of available K and SO 4 -S was reported with OC (r = 0. 758*, P< 0.05) and (r = 0. 647*, P< 0.05), respectively. Acid phosphatase showed significant positive correlation (r = 0. 742*, P< 0.05), (r = 0. 634*, P< 0.05) and (r = 0. 692*, P< 0.05) with available soil P, K and S, respectively. Like acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase also showed positive correlation (r = 0. 742*, P< 0.05 for available P), (r = 0. 634*, P< 0.05 for available K) and (r = 0. 692*, P< 0.05 for available S). Keywords Dehydrogenase, Acid-phosphatase, Alkaline- phosphatase, Soil nutrient, Semi-arid region Accepted: 06 December 2017 Available Online: 10 January 2018 Article Info