Soil status and performance of Nepal cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) under different land uses

Abstract

Soil fertility evaluation is the most fundamental decision-making tool for effective sustainable soil nutrient management of a particular area. Soil properties vary between land use systems and understanding the variation in soil properties within land use systems is crucial. Thus, the study was conducted from March 2021 to April 2021 in Phaktalung, Taplejung of Nepal for evaluation of the soil nutrient conditions of different land use systems in Randomized Complete Block Design. Different land use systems i.e., Nepal Cardamom orchard in khet land, Nepal Cardamom orchard in bari land, Nepal Cardamom orchard in Pakho land were taken as treatments. A total of 27 samples from cardamom orchard of Ramsai variety were randomly collected, 9 samples each from khet land, bari land and Pakho land respectively at a depth of 0-30 cm and are analyzed. Research analysis revealed that the soil organic matter, nitrogen, potassium was found maximum in Treatment 3 (Pakho land) which is 4.12%, 0.20% and 331.5 kg/ha respectively. Phosphorous (51.10 kg/ha) was found maximum in Treatment 2 which was bari land. Whereas cardamom yield (0.55 Mt/ha), number of tillers (29.77) were found maximum in Treatment 1 which was khet land. While soil pH, diameter of tillers, length of tillers, number of inflorescences was found non-significant. Soil texture was found to be sandy loam type.