Can any colleague tell me that what is critical level of Sulfur in soil required to achieve optimum crop production
Sulfur (S) plays a role in the formation of root nodules. This sulfur is an important element in several types of proteins such as amino acids. This element also helps the growth of tillers. In addition, sulfur is an important part of oil-producing plants, vegetables such as chili, cabbage, and others.
S deficiency will reduce protein synthesis and cause low nitrogen (N) use and reduce N fixation by legumes. For example in the canola-barley rotation of wheat in western Canada, the high S requirements of canola can be met by a single application of S to meet the high nutrient requirements of a three-year cycle.
Sulfur needs are certainly different for each plant. The total sulfur content in plants varies between 0.2% and 0.5% dry matter.
Based on my experience, adding 10 kg of Sulfur per ha for sulfur-deficient land will increase the grain yield from 5.67 tons to 6.83 tons per hectare.
Nice question ..
Sulphur in soil is extracted through different different extractants, MCP (500 ppm P), CaCl2 (0.15%), NH4OAc (0.5 M) and NaHCO3 (0.5 M) , with the result , the critical level of soil changes . Then , it further changes with the field or horticultural crops, then further changes with yield level you target at . So , its not that simple task to define critical S level in a soil , without considering these facts. For example , the critical level of sulphur in Inceptisol soil for soybean plant was found to be 13.33 mg kg-1 ( source: The Asian Journal of Soil Science (2007) 2 (1) : 55-59 ).But , no generalised critical level of not only sulphur , but for any nutrient for any soil or any soil crop will work , for sure...
Any element in soil tends to change with time in quantity depending upon the parent material, extraction by plants and biochemical modifications. The soil itself and its physical and chemical attributes , crop requirement for sulphur are some variables which determine how much sulphur you need to put to obtain an optimum crop production. There is no straight edge answer but hope the following link will help you.
https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3526/$file/542-10.pdf?OpenElement
Generally critical limit of sulphur in soil is between 7 -15 ppm approx. Below that range plant growth may hamper.
Critical limit (CL) is an important indicator to determine the optimum fertilizer requirement for a crop. It is the level at or below which crops respond to the added particular nutrient. Sulphur (S) is one of the essential plant nutrients, ranked as the fourth most important plant nutrient after nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).It is a major component of S-containing amino acids and plays a vital role in forming chlorophyll, oils, etc., and enzyme activation. Optimum supply of S can increase the nutritional value and yield, whereas S deficiency may cause an approximately 50% decrease in crop yield depend upon the crop. the CL of available S for soil in wheat was found to be 13.5 mg/kg and for mustard 14 mg/kg.
Depending on the extractant, the grouping of soils by sulfur content may differ. In the 1N KCl extract, the content less than 6.0 mg/kg is considered low, from 6.1 to 12.0 mg/kg - average, above 12.0 mg/kg - high. In acetic acid extract low level is 5-10 mg/kg (15-30 kg/ha), average - 10-35 mg/kg (30-105 kg/ha), high - 35-90 mg/kg (105-270 kg/ha).
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