Effect of sulphur on yields of cowpea (Vigina sinesis) and french bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as influenced by applied sulphur in acidic upland soils of Ranchi

Abstract

The acidic upland soils of Ranchi are in low base saturation, acidic reaction, low content of organic carbon, coarse textured with low water and nutrient retention capacities. Sulphur deficiency is wide spread in acidic upland of Ranchi due to poor content of organic matter and coarse textured soils (Singh et al., 1993 ; Singh et al., 1995). These soils are unable to fulfill the requirement of sulphur needs of vegetable crops for achieving crop productivity. At present, as per estimate, Jharkhand state is providing 9.6 lakh tones of vegetables from an area of 80100 hectares. The requirement is around 19 lakh tones of vegetable per annum in the state ( Sarkar, 2003). Thus, the vegetable production is to be doubled with optimum use of plant nutrients. Vegetables are extensively grown by the farmers in acidic upland soils of Jharkhand. Not much information is available at present to S nutrition in vegetable crops. Therefore, the present investigation was under taken to study the effect of sulphur on yields, S uptake and S use efficiency by cowpea and french bean grown at farmer’s field of Ranchi district.