Changes In Soil Physico-Chemical Properties And Fertility Status Of Long-Term Cultivated Soils In Southwestern Bangladesh

Sustainable soil management is essential for maintaining proper soil health for future production of crops. A comparative study was carried out at Dumuria soil series in Khulna district to observe the current fertility and physical changes of soils over a period of time due to different land use. Soil physical (soil texture, water holding capacity, bulk density and total porosity) and chemical properties (Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC) along with cation exchange capacity (CEC), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), base saturation percentage (BSP) and % salt properties were determined. Except for the control, all the soils had silt loam texture. Water holding capacity varied from (33.57 +/- 3.3 to 55.57 +/- 5.2)% and all soil indicated good porosity (average 47 +/- 5.59)%. Soil pH (5.96 to 7.4) indicated that the soils were neutral to alkaline in nature and had an average salt percentage (0.11% +/- 0.05). The SOM was higher in natural vegetative soil (2.45 +/- 0.46)% and decreased over the period of land use for cultivation. In terms of ESP and SAR, 50 to 10 years cultivated soil showed the highest value and a significant difference was observed among the treatments (p <= 0.05). For BSP, 100 to 50 years cultivated soil showed the highest value and uncultivated soil showed the lowest value and was statistically insignificant among treatment (p <= 0.05). Overall observation showed that long term land use resulted in a significant decline in soil quality. So, sustainable soil management should be incorporated in the development of suitable agricultural management such as the use of organic matter or incorporate organic mixed with inorganic fertilizer and adaptation of soil conservation farming. Proper strategies should be adopted to seek a sustainable solution that better addresses of soil fertility management.