A survey based study was carried out to assess the nutrient availability status in jowar, maize/groundnut-onion and sugarcane based cropping systems in black soils of Bilagi and Bagalkot. Surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were collected from 147 grids of 5.06 sq km each and analyzed for available major and secondary nutrients. Among different cropping systems, available-N was found significantly higher (375.6 ± 27.6 kg N ha-1) in soils of sugarcane, available-P was found significantly higher (40.7 ± 11.7 kg P2O5 ha-1) maize/groundnut-onion cropping system and available-K was found significantly higher (395.1 ± 43.1 kg K2O ha-1) in Jowar system. Distribution of available-Ca and Mg contents did not show any significant differences among different cropping systems. Available-S was in medium range (10-20 ppm) in nearly 2/3rd of soil samples studied. The variations in soil available nutrient contents could be largely attributed to different levels of nutrient applications and crop uptake.

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