Standard Methods for Analysis of Soil Plant and Water

Book excerpt: Land, water and plants are of crucial importance to the mankind. While per capita availability of land and water is decreasing due to burgeoning population, degradation is resulting in declining productivity per unit of these resources. This degradation is impacting the environment and the quality of the field crops consumed by the humans and the animals raising serious concerns on the health of the consumers. A concerted effort is being made to keep track of the health of these resources by Central Water Commission, Central Pollution Control Board and many state government agencies through limited monitoring networks. Soil/water health cards are being distributed to the farming community to keep track of the health of these resources. Many of these agencies feel handicapped not only in soil, water and plants analysis but also in interpreting the analytical results for practical use. It is especially true for the salt affected soils and waters, which require special attention and management to achieve potential productivity. The current book compiles and puts together the most important aspects of the existing knowledge on sampling procedures and physical, chemical and biological determinations needed to monitor the soil health and water quality. Besides procedures of general interest in agriculture, all analysis procedures needed for the reclamation and management of salt affected soils and/or poor quality waters have been included. Unlike other books of this nature, the current book includes sections where exhaustive interpretations of the analytical results and/or their applications have been given, in many cases with relevant examples. The readers, therefore, would be able to understand and proceed from the most preliminary step of taking soil/water samples to most advanced analytical techniques to diagnose the problems and to take appropriate measures to reverse the degradation processes. We believe that this book is an improvement over the existing books and is a useful addition to the literature on this subject. The information contained in this book would facilitate the access to and implementation of the knowledge by the scientists engaged in research in the basic streams and agricultural sciences. It would also prove to be a useful reference book to professional students and personals engaged in the NGOs and the state laboratories associated with soil, water and plant analysis work.