Current World Environment

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a fairly wide spread agronomic constraint in many of the world rice production regions. Information on soil Zn distribution is essential for understanding its chemical reactions and bioavailability. In this backdrop, we tried to find out the relationship between physic-chemical properties and DTPA-extractable Zn (available Zn) content of rice soils. For this eighty four (84) surface soil samples (0-20cm) were collected from three villages (viz. Saharapali, Nuagarh and Adgaon) of Bargarh district under the Hirakud Command Area of Odisha. Analytical observations revealed that the soils were slightly acidic in reaction with moderately high content of soil organic carbon. Considering the critical limit of available Zn in soils to be 0.6 mg kg^-1, all soils of the study area were found to be well supplied with DTPA-extractable Zn. Soil organic carbon (SOC) content maintained positive and significant correlation with available zinc content in soils. However, soil pH showed significant but negative correlation with available zinc content of soils.