Soil testing manual

1 Level of field
2 Crop appearance condition depussion
3 4- site/acre
4 1-6 inches surface from 4 sites
5 mixing of 4 sample composite surface han..
6 1 kg for sample
7 sm.. put further 6-12 inches
8 if there is salinity then three sample should be taken

Soil Sampling
Soil sampling is very important for testing soil nutrients. If sample is not collected properly,
the results may be misleading. So the sample should be collected carefully.

The selection of sample for soil testing is followed by following steps;

1- composite sampling:
a soil sample should be composed of several sub-samples representing the field. There are
different views about number of sub-samples. Recommended are 4 sub-samples from one
acre of land.

2- time of sampling:
soil samples can be collected any time when soil permits. However, sampling should not be
done after fertilization or amendment application. Sample taken at crop growth time will
also tell about the nutrients in the soil needed for the crop. It is recommended to collect
sample before time of planting crop.it is important to sample at similar time each year to
keep track of soil status.

3- depth of sampling:
for most purposes, soil sampling is done to a depth of about 8 inches. In some cases,
specially irrigated areas, sample should be collected at 23-39 inches deep.

4- sample tools:
the shovels(belcha) or trowels(krandi) can be used to collect sample.

5- field processing:
soil sample must be put in a plastic bag, tag the sample. Sample can be transferred to the
laboratory in cardboard boxes or sack(bori).