Soil, Plant and Water Analysis Manual
Contents: Introduction. General principles. 1. General considerations. 2. Laboratory safety. 3. Quality safety. 4. Analytical techniques basic . I. Soil analysis: 1. Concept of soil analysis. 2. Sampling and processing. II. Soil physical analysis: 1. Moisture. 2. Bulk density of apparent specific gravity. 3. Particle density or true density. 4. Porosity. 5. Particle size analysis. 6. Soil Texture determination feel method. 7. Aggregate size distribution. 8. Water holding capacity. 9. Dispersion ratio. 10. Saturated hydraulic conductivity. 11. Infiltration rate. 12. Field capacity. 13. Permanent wilting point. 14. Capacity rise of water. 15. Soil temperature. III. Soil Chemical Analysis: 1. PH in water or CaC12. 2. Electrical conductivity. 3. Soluble individual ions. 4. Carbonates: calcite and dolomite. 5. Organic matter and organic. 6. Cation exchange capacity. 7. Nitrogen. 8. Mixed acid digestion for total. 9. Phosphorus. 10. Potassium. 11. Sulphur. 12. Pyrophosphate extractable. 13. Calcium and magnesium. IV. Plant Analysis: 1. Sampling and processing. 2. Total nitrogen. 3. Microwave digestion for Ca, Mg, K. 4. Dry ashing for Ca, Mg, K, P, Mn. 5. Chloride. 6. Total phosphorus. 7. Inorganic sulphate sulphur. 8. Total potassium. V. Micronutrient estimation by soil analysis:1. Collection of samples. 2. Processing of samples. 3. Analytical method. 4. Determination of P, K, Zn, Fe, Mn. 5. Lime requirement of soils. 6. Gypsum requirement of soils. VI. Plant Analysis: 1. Collection of plant samples. 2. Processing of samples. 3. Analytical method. VII. Water analysis. Appendices.
Based on the two-and-a half decades of experience in soil, plant and water analysis, the author has prepared this user friendly laboratory manual giving the much needed and simplified versions of the analytical procedures. Along with the basic principles of different analytical methods, easy to understand basics of instrumentation are also provided for the benefit of all users in general and students in particular. This will provide details on sample preparation, standard preparation for calibrating analytical instruments and offers definitions of commonly used terms and interpretative data for evaluating soil, plant and water test results. The manual is essential for agricultural and horticultural courses in Colleges and Universities and will help in making the fertilizer recommendations for optimum crop production.
With the help of this manual you can use obtained test results to evaluate the fertility status of soils and the nutrient element status of plants for crop productions purposes. It serves as an instructional manual on the techniques used to perform chemical and physical characteristic tests on soils and describes the basis and procedures for each test in detail, including analytical instrumentation procedures. (jacket)
