Vol. 11, Special Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Girdhari Lal and Mahendra Kumar

Abstract:
Soil surface and subsurface temperatures create a temperature gradient in the soil environment. This temperature gradient induces a driving force for soil moisture movement from a deeper layer to the upper soil surface. Salts and plant nutrient migrate along with the soil moisture and accumulate at the surface during evaporation, and the nutrient at the surface are washed away along with the runoff causing water pollution. Hence, it is necessary to measure soil temperature, and plant nutrients spatially and temporally from paddy field experiments to investigate the effect of soil temperature gradient on potassium migration. Field experiments were conducted during Kharif 2018-19 in the rice field, without the application of fertilizer for investigating the effect of soil temperature gradient on potassium status in the paddy field. The result found a temperature gradient in the top layer was more compared to the bottom layer. Soil temperature followed the same trend to average air temperature. Depths of ponding water create an effect on soil temperature. Soil temperature decreased with increasing ponding depths. Soil potassium concentration at the surface was increased with increasing temperature gradient in the topsoil layer.