Soil surveying and mapping is an important operation, since it plays a key role in the knowledge about soil nutrients and how it can be used for agriculture. One thousand six hundred seventy four surface soil samples were collected from Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Panchamahals districts of middle Gujarat during 2010-11 under GPS and GIS based soil fertility mapping project. Analysis of these soil samples revealed the occurrence of acidic soils (pH <5.5) in Umreth takula of Anand districts. A wide variation in pH (4.02 to 9.26) indicated acidic to alkali nature of the soils in this region. These soils have electrical conductivity (EC) ranged from 0.06 to 1.95 dS m-1 and organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 0.08 to 0.98 percent. The available Sulphur (S) content ranged from 0.90 to 67.7, mg kg-1 in Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Panchamahals districts, respectively. Nutrient index (NI) indicated Sulphur fertility level of low to medium. Soils were also found to be highly deficient in available Sulphur (S), with mean contents of 14.4, 9.58, 9.57 and 13.10 mg kg-1 in Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Panchamahals districts, respectively showing deficiency in 61.2, 53.40, 68.40 and 52.2 per cent soil samples. This approach is proposed as a method for the evaluation of sustainable soil management practices such as variable rate of fertilization.

Keywords: Soil, Sulphur, Middle Gujarat, GIS, Nutrient Index