Assessment of Soil Microbial Status under Different Land Use System at Various Depth

The land use systems selected for study were rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS), legume based cropping system (LBCS), and vegetable based cropping system (VBCS). Plantation land (mango, aonla and bael orchard), forest land (shisham, teak and eucalyptus) and barren land (NSP-6 farm). Soil samples were taken with GPS system from four depths viz. 0-15, 15-30, 30-45 and 45-60cm in order to analyze microbial population (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes). The bacterial population (cfu × 105 g-1) under all the four land use viz. crop land, plantation land, forest land and barren land was decreased with increasing soil depth, which ranged from 2.76 to 4.95 cfu × 105 g-1 soil. The average bacterial population values were higher in forest land followed by plantation land, crop land and barren land. The fungi population (cfu × 103 g-1) under all the four land use viz. crop land, plantation land, forest land and barren land was, also, decreased with increasing soil depth at all land use system and ranged from 0.85 to 1.77 cfu × 103 g-1 soil. The average fungi population values were higher in forest land followed by crop land, plantation land and barren land. The actinomycetes population (cfu × 104 g-1) under all the four land use viz. crop land, plantation land, forest land and barren land was decreased with increasing soil depth at all land use system. The population varied from 0.57 to 1.02 cfu × 104 g-1 soil. The average actinomycetes population values were higher in forest land followed by plantation land, crop land and barren land.