Documentation of algae and physico-chemical assessment of paddy field soil of Belagavi, Karnataka

Algae are the diverse group of organisms in the soil and aquatic environment. The role of them in soil fertility enhancement has been extensively studied worldwide. Belagavi is a tropical agricultural belt in the North Karnataka region with highly fertile soil. Water and soil samples were collected randomly from the paddy field of 15-20 well-distributed spots in 4 selected locations viz Kusumali, Jamboti, Kinaye and Piranwadi. The identification revealed the presence of 94 species and 71 genera in the investigated sites. Among all, 62 species belonged to Bacillariophyceae, 14 species to Chlorophyceae, 10 species to Cyanophyceae, 3 to Xanthophyceae, followed by Trebouxiophyceae and Zygnematophyceae (2 species each) and one species of Ulvophyceae. The maximum number of 62 species was recorded from Kusamali, followed by 49 species in Kinaye, 44 in Jamboti and 35 in Piranwadi. The month of February had the highest number of species (61), decreased to 45 in March, 42 in April and 37 in May. Among the physicochemical parameters analysed for the soil samples, it was found that the pH of the soil is slightly acidic in all the study sites ranged between 5.03-5.85. Further, the electrical conductivity (EC) varied from 0.27-0.345 dS/m, found to be in a good range. Estimation of available micro and macronutrients of soil were measured, and it was found to be at low to moderate levels. The present study indicates the extensive distribution of different classes of algae in the rice fields of four study locations in Belagavi.