MACRONUTRIENTS AVAILABILITY IN PEA GROWING SOILS OF DRY TEMPERATE ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

A total of 140 surface soil samples were collected from 28 important sites covering five pea growing valleys of dry temperate zone of Himachal Pradesh (Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and some part of Chamba) to study availability of N, P and K in soil. The soils were neutral to alkaline in reaction and sandy loam to sandy clay loam in texture. The pH, organic carbon, clay content, CaCO3 content and CEC of soils  of these soils varied from 6.2 to 10.3,  4.2 to 40.8 g kg-1, 4.0 to 23.2 %, 0.1 to 14.4% and 3.5 to 62.0 c mol (P+) kg-1  with an average value of 7.6, 18.3, 13.9, 2.0 and 18.4, respectively. The available N, P and K content of soils varied from 94 to 517, 2 to 89 and 120-1497 kg ha-1 with an average value of 273, 25 and 504 kg ha-1, respectively.  The nitrogen deficiency (73%) was observed in the soils of Gondhla valley followed by Kinnaur (48 %), Spiti (46 %), Pattan valley (43 %) and Udaipur valley (28 %).  In phosphorus, 37 per cent of the soil samples were high available phosphorus and 12 per cent were low.  The deficiency of phosphorus was higher in Gondhla valley (33 %) followed by Spiti (26 %), Kinnaur (8 %) and Udaipur (4 %). Nearly 83 per cent of the soil samples were observed to be high in available potassium.