ABSTRACT
512To know about the soil fertility status of Ashwagandha growing soils, a survey was conducted during November 2008 in Ananthapur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh and 34 soil samples were collected at flowering stage of Ashwagandha. The samples were analyzed for their color, texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic carbon (OC), available N, P, K, S and soil nutrient index was calculated. The soil samples in both the districts have sandy clay loam to clay loam texture, super active to semi active in CEC activity (0.31 to1.47 cmol(p+) kg−1), neutral to slightly alkaline reaction (7.1 to 7.8), non saline (0.15 to 0.26 dS m−1), low to medium soil OC (0.42 to 0.64%), low available N (185 to 242 kg ha−1), medium available P (12.15 to 18.24 kg ha−1), medium to high available K (235 to 310 kg ha−1), and sufficient available S (10.34 to 18.22 mg kg−1).
