Soil Fertility of Cultivated Lands in Different Agro-ecological Zones

Soils need to be properly surveyed and balance and adequate fertilization of crops is necessary for making soil resources sustainable. The State of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) is divided into eight agro-ecological zones that start from glaciers & ice caps which are covered with snow throughout the year (Zone 1), Very cold temperate non-monsoon alpine zone (Zone 2), Cold temperate non-monsoon (Zone 3), Very cold temperate monsoon alpine zone (Zone 4), Cold temperate monsoon alpine zone (Zone 5), Moist warm temperate (Zone 6), Humid warm sub-tropical (Zone 7) and Sub-Humid hot sub-tropical(Zone 8) starting from north to south of AJK. In this study composite soil samples were collected at a depth of 30cm from 3,5,6,7 & 8 zones and were analyzed for physical & chemical properties of the soil. The Zone-3 showed a higher fertility status as compare to other Zones. Soil pH in Zone-3 was acidic as compared to the cultivated lands in zones 6, & 8 which were slightly alkaline in nature. Overall comparison of fertility of cultivated lands showed that the cultivated land was deficient in organic matter, available phosphorous and potash by 30, 37 & 23 % respectively.