Zinc Availability in Calcareous Soil as Influenced by Various Levels, Sources of Zn and Zn Solubilizing Bacteria

Zinc is one among the micronutrients essential for the growth and development of crops. Application of inorganic zinc fertilizers to mitigate Zn deficiency is relatively ineffective since it gets converted into unavailable forms. Microbial transformation of Zn from unavailable form to soil available form is an important approach contributing to plant Zn nutrition. An incubation experiment was conducted to study the transformation of Zn in calcareous soil. The results of incubation experiment revealed that application of Zn fertilizers with Zinc Solublizing Bacteria (ZSB) reduced the soil pH, increased the EC and DTPA-Zn content of the soil. It was found that ZnSO4 addition at 7.5 kg Zn ha-1 along with ZSB (Enterobacter cloacae) was considered to be the best Zn management strategy in calcareous soil for sustaining Zn availability to crops.