Seasonal Variation In Microbial Population At Different Depths Of Normal And Sodic Soils Of Varanasi

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to count the microbial population at different depths and season. Soil samples were collected at 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm depths from the two sites viz. BHU research farm for normal soils and Sushuwahi village of Varanasi district for sodic soils in all three season viz. winter, rainy and summer season for study of variation in microbial population such as bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, Azotobacter and Pseudomonas. The physico-chemical and microbial properties of soil do not remain constant as seasonal variation. Soil depth and environmental conditions, directly affect the population of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, Azotobacter and Pseudomonas in soils. Increasing soil depth decreases the microbial population due to certain limit of physico-chemical behavior of soils.