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Table 1. Available P, total P, kjhel N, exchanglable K (ppm) and % organic carbon in the soil samples collected from Krishi Tirth, Bajwada, Dewas (MP).
Treatment	Available P	Total P	Kjehldahl (organic form) N	Exchangable (available) K	%OC	pH
Treatment	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	pH
Original Soil	17.1	392	174	284	0.66	7.75
Between Heaps	20.5	362	198	315	0.74	7.59
Planted Heap	33.1	410	194	424	0.72	7.91
Below heap	247.7	500	798	770	2.61	7.89

Mean	79.6	416	341	448.25	1.1825	7.79
SE+	17.7***	58.4^NS	77.8**	87.0*	0.264***	0.036***
= Differences across treatments are statistically significant at probability level (P) 0.05 =Differences across treatments are statistically significant at P 0. 01; **= Differences across treatments are statistically significant at P 0.001, NS= Differences across treatments are statistically non significant

Soil sampled on 19.09.07.

Original soil = soil sample from unplanted area on the farm

Between Heaps = Planting concept on the farm is grow horticultural crops on heaps and heaps are widely apart, soil sampling in this treatment was done between heaps.

Planted Heap = Sampling in this treatment was done at the heap, besides a growing plant on top of a heap

Below Heap = Sampling in this treatment was done after removing all the soil and plant roots from soil surface. Sampling was done from area just below the soil surface but below the heap.

Replications: each of the four treatments had three replications, and there were about three spots within a given replications.

On the different parameters that were measured:

A plant needs over 30 different elements for its growth/formation of leaves, stem fruits etc. all body parts. But we generally measure only selected few and largely nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash (K). All the 30 about elements occur in a soil largely in two forms – ‘available’ and ‘non-available’ form. Wherever it is stated as ‘Total’ it means it is total of available plus non-available form. The available form of a nutrient can be readily taken-up by a plant through its roots while the other form has to be processed by microorganisms, which are in maximum numbers on surface of roots and convert them into available form, through enzyme activities or production of organic acids. The process of conversion will generally be slow and would depend on type and numbers of different microorganisms. An element provided as a ‘fertilizer’ is essentially in available form and therefore when applied to soil, we generally notice a rapid response of plants, in terms of increased green color of foliage and/or growth/yield. pH tells us whether a soil is close to normal or a problematic soil. For a very good soil, pH should be around 7, and values more than 8 (salinity/alkalinity) and less than 6 (acidity) indicate problem. Note: All these elements come from mother rock from which a soil has formed. Formation of soil is very long process. Few centimeters layer of soil might have taken thousands of years to get formed.

Organic carbon (OC) is a biological and not a chemical parameter. Unlike the other biological parameters, this can be measured readily by a chemistry laboratory and is therefore generally lumped with the chemical parameters. OC% is like a bank of nutrients in soil and may contain all the nutrients needed for plant growth. More the value, bigger will be the bank balance. But like other elements in soil, much of these elements are also in unavailable form for a plant, but relatively easily degradable to become available for use by plants. These can be made available to plants by microbial activity and carbon in this component serves as food for the microorganisms.

Comments on data table 1: (a) fertility of the original soil was lower than the area under cultivation; (b) fertility was maximum below (15 cm) the heap indicating that roots from plants sown on heaps will tend to go deep in the soil to explore/take-up the nutrients; (c) organic carbon percent (OC%) below heap was at least 3 times more than that in the heap itself, indicating that smaller carbonaceous molecules of degrading biomass move down from heaps with water (rain or irrigation).

Table 2. Total B, S, Fe, Zn (ppm), and Available B, S, Fe, Zn and Mo (ppm), in the soil samples collected from Bajwada (MP), sampled on 19.09.07.
	Total B	Available B	Total S	Available S	Total Fe	Available Fe	Total Zn	Available Zn	Available Mo
Treatment	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(ppm)	(DTPA-Zn)	(ppm)
Original Soil	29.7	0.27	93	7.17	40442	15.6	133	0.83	0.019
Between Heap	26.0	0.29	103	7.00	33550	11.7	108	1.08	0.009
Planted Heap	27.0	0.32	94	7.60	34625	9.1	77	0.97	0.012
Below heap	26.7	2.29	420	18.93	33300	21.0	97	6.10	0.020

Mean	27.3	0.79	178	10.18	35479	14.4	104	2.25	0.015
SE+	1.11^NS	0.215***	21.0***	1.054***	1641.1^NS(0.06)	2.48*	21.7^NS	0.293***	0.0031^NS
CV%	7	47	21	18	8	30	36	23	37
* = Statistically significant at 0.05, *** = Statistically significant at 0.001, NS= Statistically non-significant
NS (0.06) = Statistically nonsignificant at p=0.05 but the values are statistically significantly different at p=0.06.
On the different parameters that were measured: As stated above, a plant needs over 30 different elements for its growth and good yield and these should be in balanced form. The three elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash (K) are called major elements because these are required in relatively large quantities compared to the others. Ten other elements [B (boron), Ca (calcium), Mg (magnesium), S (sulphur), Fe (iron), Mn (manganese) , Mo (molybdenum), Cu (copper), Zn (zinc) and Cl (chloride)] are regarded as vital elements for plant growth along with the P and K. These ten are widely known as micro-elements because these are needed in micro quantities - parts per million (ppm). Like the major elements these also occur in ‘available’ and ‘non-available’ form. As stated above, an agricultural field would highly likely have all the over 30 elements needed for crop growth, but they would largely be in ‘unavailable’ form. But interestingly, much of the soil analyses done by scientific community is only for the ‘available’ form and not for the total amount of any given element in the soil. Also, it is worth noting that all the recommendations of a given fertilizer by the extension agencies or by fertilizer dealers is based on the available quantity of an element. Note: For good crop growth, other 18 elements are also needed, but in very miniscule quantities and these are regarded as ‘Trace Elements’. Comments on data table 2: Only five of the ten micro-nutrients, widely noted as deficient in farmers’ fields in semi-arid tropics [see paper by Sahrawat et al. 2007; Current Science 93(10):1428-1432], were analyzed. Salient comments follow: (a) quantities of available form of nutrients (B, S, Fe, Mo and Zn) were invariably significantly more below the heap than that at other sampling spots of the same field; (b) total concentration of all these elements was similar across sampling spots except for ‘total S’ indicating addition of ‘S’ with the items such as ‘Amrit pani etc. being applied, and this needs to be studied; (c) the noted small differences across sampling spots in the total concentration of three elements -- B, Fe and Z were statistically non-significant. It was apparent that the heap method of cultivation has ability to continuously converting insoluble form of nutrients to soluble form (note: heap remains moist due to continuous application of water) and therefore potentially obviates the need of dependence on market purchased elements. Discussion with soil scientists indicated that most soils would have total form of most elements.

Table 3. Biomass carbon, biomass nitrogen and dehydrogenase activity in the soil samples collected from Krishi Tirth, Bajwada, Dewas (MP)

Treatment	Microbial Biomass C	Microbial Biomass N	Dehydrogenase activity
Original Soil	376	37	58
Between Heap	274	33	38
Planted Heap	208	34	63
Below heap	426	66	98

Mean	321	42	64
SE+	79.8^NS	19.3^NS	26.9^NS

NS= Differences across treatments are statistically non-significant

On the different parameters measured: Microbial biomass carbon: this parameter tells us about the carbon held in body of microorganisms, and is an indirect measure of total population of microorganisms, irrespective of their culturability. *Note:* microbiologists can only culture (in laboratory conditions) about 10% of microbial life in a given niche – a generalization. But this does not mean that the un-culture-able microorganisms are not functioning in nature. It only means that we do not fully understand their importance/value. Microbial biomass nitrogen: this parameter tells us about the nitrogen held in the body of microorganisms, an indirect parameter of total population of microorganisms, irrespective of their culturability. Dehydrogenase activity: like the above two parameters, this also reflects all microbial life in a given niche, irrespective of culturability limitations. This reflection is recorded through activity of this enzyme having over 10 sub-types by oxidizing several different substrates of the several biochemical processes operating inside a living microorganism. Comments on data table 3: (a) as indicated by microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, the soil below heaps had most microbial activity/population followed by that in the original soil while the activity in the decomposing biomass in heaps was next highest, (b) activity of microorganisms as indicated by ‘dehydrogenase’ enzyme was also maximum in the sample collected below the heaps, followed by that in the heap itself, and lowest activity was noted in unplanted area between heaps which was covered with dry biomass, the noted high activity in the original soil is perhaps due to good growth of grass that would have allowed a good level of microbial activity in its root rhizosphere and needs further consideration.