Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to study the influence of calcium and potassium on nutrient availability in soils. Calcium was applied in two forms and at two levels and potassium at four levels in two soils viz., alluvial and rod soils with groundnut as fest crop. The study revealed that of the two soils, alluvial soil had greater availability of P. K. Ca and Mg than red soil. The interactions were observed to be favourable in certain instances and antagonistic in others between the soil nutrients and applied K and Ca. As for instance, available P in alluvial soil was significantly increased by gypsum treatment. Available Ca registered an increase after flowering stage and a sharp decline at post harvest stage, indicating the utilisation of Ca for fructification and this implied that increased availability of Ca at this juncture would possibly lead to greater utilisation and crop yield.

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