Abstract

• This study focuses on physicochemical properties of soils from the selected areas of Loikaw Township, Kayah State where many cereal fields have and the farmers always cultivate the subsidiary crops. In this work, soil samples were collected from the surrounding areas of Lin Phone Lay Village, Moh Pyar Village and Law Pi Ta Village in Loikaw Township, Kayah State at the depth of 0-6 inches in a zigzag manner. Physical parameters like moisture content, water holding capacity, pH, electrical conductivity, texture, organic carbon and humus and chemical parameters such as available P2O5, available K2O, total nitrogen, exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ , Na+ , H+ and Al3+ were determined according to standard procedures. From this study, it revealed that the Moh Pyar soil sample was moderately acidic nature, Lin Phone Lay soil sample was alkaline nature and Law Pi Ta soil sample was neutral. The soil texture from Moh Pyar and Law Pi Ta soil samples were found to be sandy clay loam and Lin Phone Lay soil sample was silt loam. The contents of electrical conductivity, organic carbon and humus were found to be low level in Moh Pyar and Law Pi Ta soil samples. Among these three samples, the high content of macronutrients like available phosphorus (97.53) and available potassium (803 ppm) were found in Lin Phone Lay soil sample which were found to have sufficient value for agricultural use. The relative abundances of elements of selected soil samples were aslo analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique. The results obtained from this analysis revealed that seventeen elements in Moh Pyar soil, sixteen elements in Lin Phone Lay soil and Law Pi Ta soil were contained in these soil samples. The results from this research work indicate the types of soil as well as the nutritional values of selected soil samples needed for crop production.