Urease activity in rice soils of Kerala

Abstract

An investigation on the urease activity of rice soils of Kerala was conducted at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the period 1987-1989. Representative soil samples were collected from six rice soils of Kerala, namely , laterite karppadam, kari, kayal, kole and black soil . The kinetics of urease activitywas worked out employing Lineweaver-Burk equation of double reciprocal plot. The effect of different factors like pH, soil submergence and rice rhizosphere on soil urease activity was investigated . A comparision of the efficiency of the different methods of urease assay was also made. The radioassay and autoradiograph of the plants which were allowed to absorb 14 C - urea were also done.