Withdrawal of nutrients by weed biomass aggravates soil nutritional deficiencies in young tea plantations of Sub Himalayan West Bengal

Rubi Samanta; Sourav Chakraborty; Mainak Mukherjee; Malay Bhattacharya

Withdrawal of nutrients by weed biomass aggravates soil nutritional deficiencies in young tea plantations of Sub Himalayan West Bengal

Authors
Rubi Samanta, Sourav Chakraborty, Mainak Mukherjee, Malay Bhattacharya

Abstract
Weed biomass can be used to calibrate the quantity of nutrients absorbed from soil. The current approach proposes a vivid experimental protocol of analyzing edaphological indicators in view of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash (NPK) uptake by weeds. The mean dry weed biomass of tea plantations were recorded to be 256.88g/m² while corresponding average NPK withdrawal per hectare (ha) of land was investigated to be 280.8Kg, 1.3Kg, and 21.3Kg respectively. The results precisely imply a positive correlation between weed biomass and amount of NPK withdrawn; which are thus envisaged to be directly proportional to each other, and can be attributed to be a major parameter affecting tea plantation soil fertility. Weed control can effectively reduce soil nutrient drainage.

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