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Soil Properties Influence Distribution of Extractable Boron in Soil Profile

Article  in  Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis · September 2008

DOI: 10.1080/00103620802292418

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Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 39: 2319–2332, 2008
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN 0010-3624 print/1532-2416 online
DOI: 10.1080/00103620802292418

Soil Properties Influence Distribution of Extractable

Boron in Soil Profile

Dibyendu Sarkar, Biswapati Mandal, Manik Chandra Kundu, and Javid

Ahmad Bhat

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, India

Abstract: Depth distribution of boron (B) extractable by hot calcium chloride

(HCC), potassium dihydrogen phosphate (PDP), and tartaric acid (TA) in some
typical B-deficient Inceptisols, Entisols, and Alfisols in relation to soil properties
was studied. The magnitude of B extraction followed the order HCC . PDP .
TA for Inceptisols, TA . HCC . PDP for Entisols, and PDP . HCC . TA for
Alfisols and showed a decrease along soil depth. The low pH of TA and effective
desorption of B by phosphate of PDP are attributed to their higher efficiency in
extracting B in Entisols and Alfisols, respectively. A decrease in organic carbon
(C), clay, and amorphous iron oxide content was responsible for the observed
decrease in extractable B along depth of soil profile. The HCC showed more
efficiency than PDP and TA for extracting B in soils high in organic C. Multiple
regression equations explained only 21, 57, and 59% of the variability in PDP-,
HCC-, and TA-extractable B content in soils by the soil properties analyzed, of
which organic C and clay were the most important. There were dynamic
equilibria among the amount of B extracted by the extractants, indicating B
extraction by them from more or less similar pools in the soils.

Keywords: Extractable B, hot CaCl2, KH2PO4, relationship, soil properties,

tartaric acid

Received 20 March 2007, Accepted 30 April 2008

Address correspondence to Biswapati Mandal, Directorate of Research,
Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani 741 235, West Bengal, India.
E-mail: mandalbiswapati@rediffmail.com
2319
2320 D. Sarkar et al.

INTRODUCTION

Widespread boron (B) deficiency has been reported from different parts
of the world. Such deficiency is more commonly observed in light-
textured acidic Inceptisols and Entisols, in soils containing a high amount
of calcium carbonate or oxides and hydroxides of iron (Fe) and
aluminium (Al) and also in soils of low organic-matter content (Keren
and Bingham 1985; Mandal, Ghosh, and Chattopadhyay 2004). The
deficiency is caused by leaching loss (because of high precipitation) and
fixation of the element in unavailable forms. The soils of a vast area of
land in India, particularly eastern and northeastern parts, suffer from
such deficiency (Mondal et al. 1991; Dwivedi et al. 1993; Sarkar et al.
2006). In fact, reports of a ‘‘chaffy grains’’ in wheat and poor growth and
deformed grains in mustard attributable to B deficiency are common
from the region (Sarkar, Mandal, and Kundu 2007). As such, B is
included in the normal fertilization program in the region, but there are
very few studies on the available B status of the soils from these parts of
India. Mondal et al. (1991) and Mandal, Ghosh, and Chattopadhyay
(2004) reported that more than 80% of the soil samples collected from
inceptisolic and entisolic zones of the region was deficient in available B
as estimated by the hot calcium chloride (CaCl2)–extraction method.
However, the studies referred to previously were confined to surface soils
only. Roots of many crops (such as pulses and oilseeds mostly grown in
the region) may go beyond the surface layer to derive part of their
nutrient requirements from the subsurface layers. Therefore, it is
desirable to have information about the depthwise distribution of
available B content in the soils. Such information assumes special
importance in view of the fact that deficiency and toxicity limits of B in
soils are very narrow for many crop plants (Reisenauer, Walsh, and
Hoeft 1973), necessitating a highly cautious B-fertilization program for
the B-deficient soils.
Various extraction techniques have been used by different research-
ers (Cartwright et al. 1983; Goldberg et al. 2002; Chaudhari and Shukla
2004; Shiffler et al. 2005; Sarkar, Mandal, and Mazumdar 2008) to assess
available B status of soils. Hot-water-soluble (HWS) B (Berger and
Truog 1944) is the most commonly used method to obtain an index of
plant-available B in soils (Cartwright et al. 1983). This method, involving
desorption of B by increased temperature, has the capacity to extract B
from the organic, adsorbed, and soluble pools of the soils (Offiah and
Axley 1993). Despite numerous modifications (Odom 1980; Mahler,
Naylor, and Frederichson 1984), the procedure has its inherent
weaknesses for routine use: it is tedious and time-consuming, it produces
colored and opaque extracts, there are errors associated with boiling
process, and so on. To avoid all these difficulties, use of 0.02 M
Extractable B in Soils 2321

hot-CaCl2 (HCC) instead of hot water is advocated for color-free clean

extracts (Parker and Gardner 1981). Potassium dihydrogen phosphate
(KH2PO4; PDP) is also known to be effective in desorption of B by a
ligand exchange mechanism from soil constituents, particularly from
inorganic constituents such as oxides and hydrous oxides (Bloesch, Bell,
and Hughes 1987) and also represents plant-available B. Tartaric acid
(TA), being a hydroxycarboxylic acid, is also known to react with borates
and boric acid (Kustin and Pizer 1969; Aitken, Jeffrey, and Compton
1987) and has also been used some times for assessing plant-available B.
The present investigation was undertaken to determine the depthwise
distribution of available B content in some representative soil samples
from the acutely deficient typical Inceptisols, Entisols, and Alfisols and
its relationship with soil properties using HCC, PDP, and TA as
extractants working on different mechanisms for extracting B from soils.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Location and Soil

Soil samples were collected from 36 representative locations of crop fields

distributed widely in the B-deficient Entisols, Inceptisols, and Alfisols of
West Bengal, India, at three different depths: surface (0–0.15 m), midsurface
(0.15–0.30 m), and subsurface (0.30–0.45 m) layers. They were air dried,
powdered, passed through a 2-mm nylon sieve, and analyzed for pH [in 1:2.5
soil–water suspension (Jackson 1973)], organic carbon (C) (Walkley and
Black 1934), clay (international pipette method), and amorphous Fe and Al
oxides and manganese (Mn) oxides [by extracting with 0.02 M ammonium
oxalate, pH 3.0 (McKeague and Day 1966)] (Table 1). Available B was then
extracted by three different extractants, HCC, PDP, and TA, whose details
are given in Table 2. Extractable B was determined colorimetrically by the
azomethine-H procedure (Parker and Gardner 1981).

Statistical Analysis

Simple correlation was performed between the physical and chemical

properties of the soils and the amount of B extracted by the three
different extractants. Multiple regressions were also computed using
extractable-B content by different extractants in the soils as dependent
variables and soil properties such as pH, organic C, clay, amorphus Fe
and Al oxides and Mn oxides as independent variables. Most of the
statistical analyses of the data were done using SPSS (version 10.0; SPSS
Inc. 1996).
 2322

Table 1. Important physical and chemical properties of the soils (Inceptisols, Alfisols, and Entisols)

pH at depth (m) Clay (g kg21) at depth (m) Organic C (g kg21) at depth Amorphous Fe (g kg21) at Amorphous Al (g kg21) at Mn-oxides
(m) depth (m) depth (m) (g kg21) at depth (m)

0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45

Inceptisols

Range 4.8–6.4 4.9–6.8 5.0–6.8 160–270 140–280 120–250 4.69–15.34 2.00–13.70 1.18–12.95 3.05–9.40 2.83–9.64 2.76–8.61 2.25–12.23 1.93–8.87 1.54–6.51 0.12–2.03 0.71–2.14 0.53–1.74

Mean 5.4 5.6 5.6 222 208 205 8.99 5.68 5.38 5.44 5.29 4.96 4.98 3.72 2.97 1.06 1.20 1.11

Alfisols

Range 5.0–5.7 5.4–6.5 5.4–6.7 150–380 160–350 130–350 1.18–10.16 1.80–3.90 1.17–3.38 2.88–8.30 3.12–7.07 2.51–5.04 1.46–4.27 1.31–3.17 1.27–3.96 0.50–1.58 0.56–2.14 0.57–1.35

Mean 5.3 6.0 6.2 248 235 221 6.00 2.79 2.33 6.06 4.44 3.67 2.91 2.12 1.87 0.91 1.20 0.94

Entisols

Range 4.7–7.9 5.3–7.8 5.7–7.8 160–720 170–750 170–740 2.36–12.92 1.23–7.39 0.93–6.48 5.20–9.78 2.92–9.81 2.54–8.92 2.33–6.69 1.81–5.57 1.55–4.42 0.60–1.38 0.58–1.61 0.71–2.70

Mean 6.3 6.9 7.0 392 433 448 7.94 3.38 2.83 7.85 5.73 5.46 4.63 3.23 2.81 0.80 1.00 1.31
D. Sarkar et al.
Extractable B in Soils 2323

Table 2. Summary information for each of three extraction methods used for B
extraction in the experiment
Fraction Extractant Soil– Condition References
extractant
Hot CaCl2 0.02 M hot 1:2 Reflux 10 min on Parker and Gardner
CaCl2 hot plate (1981)
KH2PO4 0.5 M 1:2 Shake 1 h Bloesch, Bell, and
potassium Hughes (1987)
dihydrogen
phosphate
Tartaric 0.01 M 1:2 Shake 1 h Aitken, Jeffrey, and
acid tartaric acid Compton (1987)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Extractable B in Soils

The results (Table 3) show that the amount of B extracted by the three
different extractants—HCC, PDP, and TA—in surface-layer soil ranged
from 0.21 to 0.52, 0.10 to 0.53, and 0.04 to 0.19 mg kg21 with mean values
of 0.31, 0.22, and 0.11 mg kg21, respectively, in acidic Inceptisols. The
ranges for the red-lateritic Alfisols for these three extractants were 0.12 to
0.28, 0.08 to 0.28, and 0.07 to 0.14 mg kg21 with mean values of 0.17,
0.18, and 0.10 mg kg21, and those for the alluvial Entisols were 0.10 to
0.33, 0.08 to 0.25, and 0.20 to 0.32 mg kg21 with mean values of 0.24,
0.18, and 0.25 mg kg21, respectively. The amounts of B extracted by the
extractants thus varied with soil type. For example, in Inceptisols, the
order of extractability of the extractants for B was as follows: HCC .
PDP . TA, whereas in Alfisols the order was PDP . HCC . TA. In
Entisols, it was TA . HCC . PDP. When the results were computed
irrespective of soil type, it was observed that the HCC extracted the
highest amount, followed by PDP and TA in decreasing order. Aitken,
Jeffrey, and Compton (1987), however, found such efficiency of
extractants for B to be as follows: HCC . AA (ammonium acetate) .
TA . MCC (mannitol calcium chloride) in acidic Queensland (Australia)
soils. Mandal and De (1993) observed this as TA . HCC . AA . MCC
in acidic Inceptisols of India; Mandal, Ghosh, and Chattopadhyay (2004)
as HCC & HCl . PDP . TA . MCC in Entisols of West Bengal
(India); Chude (1988) as HCC . HWS . AA in coca-growing acidic soils
of southeastern Nigeria; Cartwright et al. (1983) as HWS . AA . MCC
in south Australian soils; and Dwivedi et al. (1993) as MCC . HCl .
HWS . ammonium bicarbonate–diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid
(AB-DTPA) in acid alluvial soils of India. Gupta et al. (1985) observed
that boiling the soil in solution (hot 0.01 M CaCl2 and hot water)
Table 3. Depthwise distribution of extractable B of three soils with extractants
2324

Location Hot-CaCl2 (mg kg21) at depth (m) KH2PO4 (mg kg21) at depth (m) Tartaric acid (mg kg21) at depth (m)
0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45
Inceptisols
Chamurchi 0.22 0.03 0.00 0.19 0.07 0.04 0.12 0.07 0.08
Gayerkata 0.33 0.13 0.06 0.11 0.14 0.14 0.15 0.09 0.07
Singimari 0.22 0.16 0.11 0.11 0.14 0.09 0.19 0.12 0.09
Marichbari 0.39 0.10 0.01 0.11 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.03
Shalbari 0.32 0.18 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.05 0.09 0.07 0.08
Dodiarpar I 0.28 0.14 0.09 0.19 0.12 0.07 0.15 0.07 0.04
Bamantari I 0.30 0.22 0.10 0.25 0.23 0.18 0.13 0.03 0.05
Dodiarpar II 0.21 0.09 0.06 0.27 0.04 0.01 0.07 0.04 0.03
Kalirhat 0.52 0.32 0.14 0.39 0.25 0.16 0.09 0.06 0.07
Magurmari 0.22 0.19 0.09 0.53 0.16 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04
Bamantari II 0.23 0.18 0.09 0.20 0.03 0.00 0.13 0.07 0.10
Balarampur 0.45 0.23 0.12 0.20 0.08 0.07 0.10 0.07 0.06
Mean 0.31 0.16 0.08 0.22 0.11 0.08 0.11 0.07 0.06
Alfisols
Para 0.13 0.05 0.03 0.08 0.07 0.02 0.10 0.04 0.03
Barabazar 0.13 0.05 0.05 0.19 0.10 0.04 0.12 0.09 0.07
Banduan 0.12 0.08 0.03 0.23 0.14 0.09 0.11 0.07 0.04
Arsha 0.19 0.06 0.07 0.22 0.16 0.17 0.08 0.06 0.05
Ladhurka 0.15 0.13 0.10 0.22 0.21 0.16 0.14 0.04 0.04
Kashipur 0.28 0.18 0.11 0.25 0.09 0.06 0.12 0.06 0.05
D. Sarkar et al.

Manbazar 0.20 0.16 0.15 0.18 0.09 0.05 0.12 0.03 0.00
Location Hot-CaCl2 (mg kg21) at depth (m) KH2PO4 (mg kg21) at depth (m) Tartaric acid (mg kg21) at depth (m)
0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45 0–0.15 0.15–0.30 0.30–0.45
Banduan 0.19 0.13 0.08 0.16 0.10 0.09 0.07 0.02 0.02
Gopaldih 0.22 0.12 0.11 0.28 0.08 0.07 0.12 0.02 0.00
Extractable B in Soils

Santuri 0.17 0.06 0.04 0.22 0.12 0.07 0.07 0.03 0.00
Punura 0.16 0.06 0.12 0.08 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.06 0.03
Balrampur 0.17 0.11 0.11 0.09 0.07 0.04 0.07 0.03 0.02
Mean 0.18 0.10 0.08 0.18 0.11 0.08 0.10 0.05 0.03
Entisols
Bansbaria 0.18 0.20 0.22 0.12 0.06 0.11 0.23 0.26 0.23
Hamjanpur 0.31 0.28 0.31 0.24 0.16 0.20 0.23 0.23 0.25
Kushpukur 0.30 0.29 0.33 0.09 0.07 0.12 0.26 0.18 0.21
Choutara 0.33 0.22 0.19 0.14 0.10 0.13 0.24 0.22 0.20
Mogra 0.28 0.25 0.21 0.24 0.23 0.15 0.29 0.27 0.22
Barabelu 0.30 0.24 0.28 0.20 0.17 0.23 0.32 0.28 0.31
Basarbati 0.17 0.13 0.08 0.25 0.23 0.19 0.26 0.23 0.21
Jangalpara 0.10 0.03 0.02 0.25 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.19 0.17
Salepur 0.26 0.10 0.06 0.21 0.19 0.22 0.26 0.21 0.19
Katali 0.13 0.10 0.12 0.15 0.13 0.14 0.23 0.21 0.19
Radhakrishnapur 0.22 0.12 0.08 0.16 0.18 0.19 0.22 0.20 0.17
Ghanashyampur 0.27 0.23 0.12 0.18 0.14 0.15 0.21 0.20 0.18
Mean 0.24 0.18 0.17 0.19 0.15 0.17 0.25 0.22 0.21
2325
2326 D. Sarkar et al.

extracted comparatively more B than did other extractants because they

extract not only the inorganic soluble B, but B from other pools such as
the organic and adsorbed inorganic pools. As such, HCC could extract B
from organic, adsorbed, and soluble pools in soils and thus recorded the
highest amount of extractable B. The higher amount of B extraction with
PDP in Alfisols might be due to an effective desorption of B from
inorganic constituents such as the oxides and hydroxides of Fe and Al by
the phosphate ion in the extractant, because phosphate has a higher
bonding energy constant than that of borate (Bloesch, Bell, and Hughes
1987). The TA, being a hydroxycarboxylic acid, is known to react with
boric acid (Kustin and Pizer 1969). Additionally, the low pH of TA
extract leads to its higher efficiency in extracting B in Entisols.

Changes with Depth

The amount of B extracted by each of the three extractants (HCC, PDP,

and TA) showed a gradual decrease with depth (Figure 1). The lowest
values with few exceptions were always recorded in the subsurface layers;
the magnitude of decreases with respect to these extractants were 73.9,
64.9, and 43.6%; 52.0, 57.9, and 71.6%; and 29.4, 8.1, and 14.6%,
respectively, in the surface layers of Inceptisols, Alfisols, and Entisols.
The decrease in B content with increase in depth primarily is due to the
decrease in organic C and amorphous Fe and Al oxide content of the soils
at lower depths, as evidenced by significant positive correlations between
the extractable B with those soil properties (Table 4). Decrease in
extractable B content with increasing depth of the soils was also observed
by Mandal and De (1993) in acidic Inceptisols. They ascribed it to the
decreasing organic C and increasing crystalline Fe oxide content of the
soils. Such a decrease in extractable B content along depths was least in
Entisols because of the higher clay content in deeper layers in these soils.

Figure 1. Depthwise distribution of B in three soils (Inceptisols, Alfisols, and

Entisols) as extracted by hot CaCl2 (HCC), KH2PO4 (PDP), and tartaric acid
(TA).
 Extractable B in Soils

Table 4. Correlation coefficients (r) between extractable B content and selected soil properties
Extractants pH Organic C Clay Amorphous Fe Amorphous Al Mn-oxides Organic C/
(amorphous Fe + Al)
Hot-CaCl2 0.125 0.641** 0.349** 0.194* 0.289** 20.282** 0.505**
KH2PO4 0.050 0.365** 0.153 0.249** 0.312* 20.100 0.253**
Tartaric acid 0.458** 0.152 0.655** 0.447** 0.284** 20.055 20.104

*, ** Significant at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively.

2327
2328 D. Sarkar et al.

Relationships with Soil Properties

Results (Table 4) showed that in most of the cases, the amount of B

extracted by each of the three extractants was significantly and positively
correlated with pH, organic C, clay, and amorphous Al and Fe oxides but
negatively correlated with Mn oxide content of all the soils. These indicated
that the extractable-B content of the soils would increase with increasing
organic C, clay, amorphous Fe and Al oxides, and pH and decrease with
increasing Mn oxide content in soils. All the three extractants used for the
present study are known to be capable of extracting B bound by organic
matter (Gupta et al. 1985), which retains the element through the formation
of B-organic complexes. Extraction of B bound by oxides of Fe and Mn is
not known because these oxides at higher pH combined B through ligand
exchange mechanisms, making it difficult to extract (Mandal and De 1993;
Mott 1981). However, the amorphous nature of such oxides of Fe and Al in
acidic soils when extracted with acidic (TA) and phosphate (PO432)–
containing extractants (PDP), which acts as pH buffer, may help B to get
released to the soil solution. These may explain the observed positive
correlations between extractable B and the content of organic matter and
between extractable B and amorphous Fe and Al oxides. Positive
correlation between extractable B and organic-matter content in soils was
also reported by others (Gupta et al. 1985; Mandal, Ghosh, and
Chattopadhyay 2004). The positive correlation of extractable B with clay
was also not uncommon (Fleming 1980; Elrashidi and O’Connor 1982).
Fleming (1980) suggested that coarse-textured soils often contained less
available B than fine-textured soils, and thus it was not unusual to observe
B deficiency in plants growing in sandy soils. The HCC and PDP had a
preferential extractability for soil B complexed by organic matter as
compared to Fe and Al oxides, because HCC- and PDP-extractable B
content in soils and the ratio of organic C to amorphous Fe and Al oxides
showed significant positive correlations, but such relationship with TA was
negative (Table 4). This indicated HCC had an edge over the PDP and TA
in extracting B from soils complexed by organic matter.
The amount of extractable B per unit of soil organic C showed
significant negative correlation with the amount of soil organic C. This
was true for all the three extractable forms. This indicated that the rate of
extractability of the extractants per unit organic C was lower at higher
levels than at lower levels of soil organic C (Figure 2). Quality of soil
organic C may be the reason for such relationship. However, the
efficiency of such extraction per unit of soil organic C was higher, with
HCC followed by TA and PDP.
The critical analysis of results further revealed that TA was the most
efficient extractant of B from the soils, having relatively higher pH,
amorphous Al and Fe oxides, Mn oxides, and clay content, followed by
Extractable B in Soils 2329

Figure 2. Relationship of extractable B content (mg kg21) per unit organic C

(g kg21) with organic C in soils, extracted by hot CaCl2, KH2PO4, and tartaric
acid.

PDP and TA in decreasing order, because the ratios of HCC/TA, PDP/

TA, and HCC/PDP recorded negative correlations with pH, amorphous
Al and Fe oxides, Mn oxides, and clay content (data not given). The
ratios of HCC/TA, PDP/TA, and HCC/PDP also recorded positive
correlations with organic C content of the soils, indicating higher
efficiency of HCC for extracting B in soils having high organic C.
Multiple regression equations (Table 5) show that the variability in
the amount of B extracted (Y) by TA, HCC, and PDP can be explained
to the extent of 59, 57, and only 21%, respectively, by the soil properties
such as pH, clay, organic C, amorphous Fe and Al oxides, and Mn
oxides. Some unmeasured differences in composition (degree of
humification) of organic matter, crystallinity of the oxides of Fe, and
Al and B content inherited from parent materials may lead to such a low
percentage of variation explained. Mandal and De (1993) also observed
less than 60% variability in the extractable-B content explained by soil
properties in some acidic Inceptisols of India. Stepwise regression
equations (data not given) further showed that organic C alone could
account for 41 and 13% variability in HCC and PDP, but clay for 43% in

Table 5. Multiple regression equations showing relationship between

extractable B and selected soil properties using data for three soils and three
depths

Regression equation R2
Hot-CaCl2: Y 5 20.0020 + 0.0170pH + 0.0002Clay** + 0.0177OC** 0.57
2 0.0057Am-Fe + 0.0116Am-Al* 2 0.0414Mn-O*
KH2PO4: Y 5 0.0018 + 0.0123pH + 0.00001Clay + 0.0068OC** + 0.21
0.0029Am-Fe + 0.0112Am-Al** 2 0.0213Mn-O
Tartaric acid: Y 5 20.191 + 0.0307pH** + 0.0002Clay** 2 0.59
0.0002OC + 0.0135Am-Fe** + 0.0081Am-Al* + 0.0319Mn-O*
*, ** Significant at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively.
Note. OC, Am-Fe, Am-Al, and Mn-O 5 organic C, amorphous Fe and Al
oxides, and Mn oxides, respectively.
2330 D. Sarkar et al.

Figure 3. Dynamic relationships among extractable forms of B in soils. Asterisks

(* and **) denote significance at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively.

TA-extractable B content in the soils, indicating the importance of organic

C and clay content in extracting B from the soils and thus controlling its
availability. In fact, organic matter is one of the main sources of B in acidic
soils (Okazaki and Chao 1968), and soil organic matter also plays an
important role in B availability by minimizing B leaching and maintaining
B in a relatively available form (Yermiyahu, Keren, and Chen 1988). The
amounts of B extracted by the three extractants were found to be
significantly and positively correlated with each other (Figure 3), indicating
that they could extract B from more or less similar pools in the soils. The
magnitude of efficiency of the extractants, however, may vary depending
upon the properties of the soils.

CONCLUSIONS

The study thus indicated that the efficiency of B extraction by different

extractants is predominantly influenced by the physical and chemical
properties of the soils, which suggested the necessity of selecting different
extractants for different soils based on their physical and chemical
properties for assessing the available B status of the soils.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are extremely grateful to Dr. L. N. Mandal, former

professor of Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West
Bengal, for kindly going through the draft manuscript and offering
valuable suggestions for strengthening it.

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Extractable B in Soils 2331

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