COMPARISON OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES TO SOIL QUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES IN JAIPUR DISTRICT, RAJASTHAN

The nutritional quality of soil plays a key role in the growth of plants as soil minerals act as a source and sink for providing the essential nutrients to plants. The fertility of the soil and nutritional management are the two important factors that directly influence plants’ productivity and quality. Soil management is an important tool for agriculture to provide nutritious food. Soil management is essential for maintaining the quality of soil and soil life support system. Soil quality includes soil structure, fertility, conservation, and organic matter. The soil management practices are generally implemented to enhance the productivity of soil. Soil testing is the first step of managing the fertility of soil. The soil testing provides valuable information about the nutritional levels (micronutrients, macronutrients, organic carbon content (OC), electrical conductance (EC), pH etc.) of soil. This article shows the influence of the environment on the fertility and nutritional quality of soil that has been collected from different areas of Rajasthan. The soil test report is helpful in the recommendation of fertilizers on the bases of the crop grown. The variability in soil data showed the impact of the environment on the soil in that area.