Determine the Correlation between Different Forms of Sulphur in Surface Soil of Ashoknagar District of MP

Sulphur is one of the essential elements for plant growth. It is an important constituent of man,y enzymes and amino acids. Photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation are attributed to the type of sulphur linkage present. Sulphur has been found to help the synthesis of amino acids and hence increase the protein content of plants, boosting the oil content. Today, the Sulfur (S) research has extended to various soils, crops cropping systems and different sources of sulphur. Several soil factors influence the availability of sulphur and hence the status of different forms of sulphur in soil varies widely with soil types. Keeping in view, One hundred twenty-five GPS-based surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were collected from five blocks (Mungaoli, Chanderi, Ishagarh, Ashoknagar and Sadora) of Ashoknagar district from April to May 2017. Soils were studied for their physical and chemical characteristics and status of different forms of sulphur and their relationship with different soil properties.The different forms of sulphur, that is water soluble, available, organic and total-S were observed in the range of 1.23 – 7.67, 4.36 – 40.25, 89.08 – 194.53 and 167.45 – 422.20 mg kg-1 under different villages of the investigated area with the average value of 4.09, 14.68, 124.21 and 309.17 mg kg-1, respectively. Out of 125 surface samples, 36 samples (28.8%) were found under deficient, 72 (57.6%) under medium and 17 (13.6%) samples were found in sufficient category. The availability of sulphur increased with an increase in organic carbon and clay content in the soil. The correlation study revealed that organic carbon had a greater impact on different forms of sulphur followed by soil texture. It suggested that organic matter was the main contributing factor affecting the sulphur availability in soil. Total S maintained a significant positive association with all the forms of sulphur. Such a relationship suggests that sulphur exists in a state of dynamic equilibrium in these soils.