Study of Physico-Chemical and Micronutrient Status of Soil, Water and Plant System of Sargodha District: Effect of Micronutrients (Zn, B) on Forage Yield and Quality of Oat and Pearl Millet By Abdul Jalil Department of Microbiology Faculty of Biological Sciences Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan 2013 i Study of Physico-Chemical and Micronutrient Status of Soil, Water and Plant System of Sargodha District: Effect of Micronutrients (Zn, B) on Forage Yield and Quality of Oat and Pearl Millet A manuscript presented to the Quaid-i-Azam University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Biological Sciences (Soil Science) By Abdul Jalil Department of Microbiology Faculty of Biological Sciences Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan 2013 ii Dedicated to Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to my sweet mother (late Nasreen Akhter), and great father (late Naseer Ahmad) iii APPROVAL This is certify that this thesis submitted by Abdul Jalil is accepted in present form by Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, as satisfying the dissertation requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science/Microbiology. Supervisor: ________________________________________ Chairperson: ________________________________________ External Examiner: ________________________________________ External Examiner: ________________________________________ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to Almighty Allah, the most Gracious and the Merciful, Who enabled me to carry out this study and continues to bless me in life. I consider it my utmost duty to express my gratitude to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) whose patient and diligent life taught me to come to entirety of this program. I am grateful to my supervisor, Professor Dr. M. Fayyaz Chaudhary, Dean (Retd.), Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam, University, Islamabad for his guidance, support, and encouragement during the course of this study. I also extend my gratitude to Dr. Ejaz Rafique, Principal Scientific Officer, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad for his valuable suggestions, cooperation, and moral support for enabling me to accomplish this dissertation. I am highly indebted to Faraz Ahmad, Assistant Research Officer, Soil and Water Testing Laboratory, Sargodha for his advice and assistance in statistical work. I am also grateful to Dr. Muhammad Zia, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad for his time and effort in making suggestions for improving this dissertation: and to Malik Riaz, Malik Mumtaz Ahmad, Shaukat Nawaz and Imtiaz Ahmad, Soil and Water Testing Laboratory, Sargodha and Muhammad Riaz, Shah Pur, for their assistance in analytical work. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Higher Education Commission, Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad. I owe a lot to my family, especially my mother, Mst. Nasreen Akhtar, my brother, Hamid Mahmood, my wife, Rafia Noreen, and my sister, Hifza Naseer for their encouragement, sincere moral support, and consistent patience throughout the study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V LIST OF TABLES IX LIST OF FIGURES XI LIST OFAPPENDICES XII ABSTRACT XIV 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 8 2.1. Role of micronutrients in crop production 8 2.2. Groundwater quality 20 2.3. Crop response to micronutrient fertilization 25 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 32 3.1 Micronutrient indexing and physico-chemical characteristics of soil, 32 fodder crops and ground water in Sargodha district 3.1.1. Sampled Area 32 3.1.2. Soil, plant and water sampling 33 3.1.3. Laboratory analyses of soils, plant tissues and ground water 34 3.1.3.1 Glassware, chemicals and instruments 34 3.1.3.2. Soil analysis 38 3.1.3.3. Plant tissue analysis 42 3.1.3.4. Water analysis 43 3.2. Effect of micronutrients (Zn, B) on fodder yield and quality of oat and 45 pearl millet vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) page 3.2.1. Experimental sites 45 3.2.2. Nutrient treatments and experimental design 45 3.2.3. Laboratory analyses of soils and plant tissues 48 3.2.3.1. Soil analysis 48 3.2.3.2. Plant tissue analysis 48 3.2.4. Plant height 51 3.2.5. Number of tillers per plant 51 3.2.6. Dry matter yield 51 3.3. Statistical analysis 52 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 53 4.1. Micronutrient status of soils and fodder crops grown in Sargodha 53 district 4.1.1. Zinc status of soils 53 4.1.2. Zinc contents of fodder crops 71 4.1.3. Copper status of soils 77 4.1.4. Copper contents of fodder crops 80 4.1.5. Iron status of soils 82 4.1.6. Iron contents of fodder crops 84 4.1.7. Manganese status of soils 87 4.1.8. Manganese contents of fodder crops 89 4.1.9. Boron status of soils 91 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) page 4.1.10. Boron contents of fodder crops 93 4.2. Soil characteristics and their affect on micronutrient availability 95 4.2.1. Soil organic matter 95 4.2.2. Soil pH 98 4.2.3. Soil texture 100 4.3. Groundwater characteristics of Sargodha district 104 4.3.1. Groundwater characteristics of Sargodha district during kharif 104 season 4.3.2. Groundwater characteristics of Sargodha district during rabi 106 season 4.4. Effect of micronutrients (Zn, B) on forage yield and quality of oat 113 4.4.1. Yield components and yield 114 4.4.2. Quality of oat (CP, ADF, NDF) 120 4.5. Effect of micronutrients (Zn, B) on forage yield and quality of pearl 124 millet 4.5.1. Yield attributes and yield 125 4.5.2. Quality of pearl millet (CP, ADF, NDF) 131 LITERATURE CITED 138 APPENDICES 162 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Information regarding sampling sites during kharif and rabi in 36 Sargodha district 2 Selected initial physico-chemical characteristics of field experimental 46 sites 3 Summary of data showing soil micronutrient status in the kharif 54 fodder fields of Sargodha district 4 Mean values for EC, pH, organic matter and concentration of Zn, Cu, 55 Fe, Mn and B in the sampled soil series of kharif fodders fields from Sargodha district 5 Soil series wise distribution of micronutrient deficiencies in surface 58 soils in Sargodha district (kharif) 6 Correlation coefficient (r values) between soil micronutrients and 61 various soil characteristics of Sargodha district in kharif 7 Summary of data showing soil micronutrient status in the rabi fodder 62 fields of Sargodha district 8 Mean values for EC, pH, organic matter and concentration of Zn, Cu, 63 Fe, Mn and B in the sampled soil series of rabi fodders fields from Sargodha district 9 Soil series wise distribution of micronutrient deficiencies in surface 66 soils in Sargodha district (rabi) 10 Correlation coefficient (r values) between soil micronutrients and 68 various soil characteristics of Sargodha district in rabi 11 Micronutrient contents on dry weight basis in the kharif fodders of 72 Sargodha 12 Correlation coefficient (r values) between soil and kharif (summer) 74 plant micronutrients in Sargodha district 13 Micronutrient contents on dry weight basis in the rabi fodders of 75 Sargodha ix LIST OF TABLES (continued) Table Page 14 Correlation coefficient (r values) between soil and rabi (winter) plant 76 micronutrients in Sargodha district 15 Soil properties in the field of kharif fodder in Sargodha district 79 16 Soil properties in the field of rabi fodder in Sargodha district 79 17 Range, mean and fitness % age of some selected properties of ground 105 water of Sargodha in Pakistan in kharif 18 Range, mean and fitness % age of some selected properties of ground 107 water of Sargodha in Pakistan in rabi 19 Correlation coefficient (r) between various water and soil 109 characteristics of district Sargodha in kharif 20 Correlation coefficient (r) between various water and soil 109 characteristics of district Sargodha in rabi x LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1 Map of district Sargodha with distribution of sampling sites 35 2 Relationship between texture and micronutrient contents of kharif 101 fodder fields at Sargodha district 3 Relationship between texture and micronutrient contents of rabi 102 fodder fields at Sargodha district 4 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on plant height of oat 115 5 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on number of tillers per 116 plant of oat 6 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on dry matter yield of 118 oat 7 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on acid detergent fiber of 121 oat 8 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on neutral detergent fiber 122 of oat 9 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on crude protein contents 123 of oat 10 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on plant height of pearl 126 millet 11 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on number of tillers per 128 plant of pearl millet 12 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on dry matter yield of 129 pearl millet 13 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on crude protein contents 132 of pearl millet 14 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B acid detergent fiber of 134 pearl millet 15 Effect of different combinations of Zn and B on neutral detergent 135 fiber of pearl millet xi LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page 1 Micronutrient status of soils in Sargodha district (kharif 06) 162 2 Micronutrient status of soils in Sargodha district (rabi 06-07) 169 3 Generalized micronutrients soil test interpretation criteria used in 176 Pakistan 4 Some physico-chemical properties of soils in Sargodha district 177 (kharif 06) 5 Some physico-chemical properties of soils in Sargodha district (rabi 184 06-07) 6 Concentration of micronutrients in fodder crops collected