Distribution of Different Forms of Sulphur in Soil of Banaskantha District of Gujarat

Four hundred eighty soil samples from Banaskantha district were collected and analyzed to study the different forms of sulphur in soil. On an average, different forms of sulphur viz., total, organic, non-sulphate, sulphate, water soluble and heat soluble sulphur varied from 32.72 to 346.83, 11.05 to 266.90, 15.59 to 203.26, 1.64 to 48.68, 4.09 to 50.71 and 5.24 to 62.17 mg kg^-1, respectively in surface soil (0-15 cm depth), while 34.36 to 307.57, 11.90 to 202.30, 10.85 to 185.70, 3.27 to 32.31, 3.27 to 40.80 and 3.93 to 50.29 mg kg^-1, respectively in subsurface soil (15-30 cm depth). In general, different forms of sulphur showed decreasing trend with soil depth. In the soils of district, the forms of sulphur followed the following trend: non-sulphate>organic>heat soluble>water soluble>sulphate sulphur. The soils of Banaskantha district had the highest fraction of non-sulphate sulphur (50.76 per cent) followed by organic sulphur (36.74 per cent) and sulphate sulphur (12.49 per cent) of the total sulphur.