~ 1983 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2017; 5(4): 1983-1986 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2017; 5(4): 1983-1986 © 2017 IJCS Received: 10-07-2017 Accepted: 11-08-2017 SS Hadole Assistant professor at College of Agriculture Akola, Maharashtra, India Eetela Sathyanarayana Ph. D Research Scholar in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry at PJTSAU, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Correspondence Eetela Sathyanarayana Ph. D Research Scholar in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry at PJTSAU, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Assessment of fertility status of soils of Sindkhed Moreshwar village in the district of Akola (Maharashtra) SS Hadole and Eetela Sathyanarayana Abstract Soils of Sindkhed Moreshwar village, Akola district of Maharashtra state were investigated for their chemical properties like pH, EC, Organic carbon, Available nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. All the soils under study were slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in reaction, EC (Electrical conductivity) value for these soils within safe limit. The organic carbon content in these soils is moderate to very high, available nitrogen is low, phosphorus range is from low to medium and potassium status is medium to high. Keywords: fertility, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, EC, pH, Organic carbon. Introduction Soil is a medium for plant growth and development that leads to crop productivity. Crop productivity depends on many factors and fertility is major amongst all. Soil fertility has direct relation with crop yields, provided other factors are in optimum level. Soil fertility must be periodically estimated as there is continuous removal of macro and micronutrients by crop intensively grown in every crop season. Continuous cropping system for periods without adequate supply of additional amount of nutrients resulted into possibility of deficiencies of essential nutrients in due course of time. The fertility problem cannot be solved merely by supply of plant food elements but there deficient management has also to be given a due thought as fertilizer being one of costliest input required, hence balanced scheduling for optimizing dose is necessary to get maximum returns. The future planning for an intensive farming will be based on the nutrient status of soil as assessed by soil testing so that the problems related to residual effect of fertilizers, compatibility of fertilizers, appropriate method and time of their application, suitability of fertilizers for various crops, soil types and fertilizer pesticide – herbicide interaction may be taken care. The area of soil science research which is most directly related to agricultural productivity, soil fertility and fertilizer use research and this is also an area where the expectations are high. All researches in soil fertility have one common goal that is to assess nutrient supplying capacity of the soil, deficiencies of nutrient if any and to supply nutrient based on crop needs. Thus, in the game of crop production, there are three dependent and yet interdependent players the soil, the plant and fertilizers, each one of them key players (Goswami, 1999). India’s population is variously projected at 1330 million to 1620 million by 2020 (16-17 million population added each year) and food grain demand by 2020 is estimated at 260-300 million tons (117 million tones of rice, 93 million tones of wheat, 28 million tones of course grain and 24 million tones of pulses). The challenge during the next millennium is to achieve and sustain growth rates high enough to feed the swelling population without degrading the environment. Indian soils have been developed under different climatic conditions such as semiarid, tropical and sub-tropical and thus vastly differ in their properties. Research work done so far is still inadequate to decide their fertility status. Regarding the nutrient status, all soils were slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in reaction, EC value for these soils within safe limit. The organic carbon content in these soils is moderate to very high and soil of farms is moderately calcareous to calcareous due to presence of CaCO3.The average available major nutrient content in these soils shows low, low to medium status for available N and P and medium to high status for available K.