practices (Table 3). The mean N level at Haa
(0.13%) was highly significant compared to those
at Thimphu (0.10%) and Paro (0.08%).
Significantly higher levels of N were detected in
the surface soil and the differences were much
greater under inorganic fertilizer practices.
There were no significant differences in
the available P between districts and fertilizer
practices. The available P was the highest in
Thimphu under inorganic practices in the 0–20 cm
soil layer and the lowest in Paro from mixed
practice in the 21–40 cm soil layer (Table 3).
The trend of K concentration in the soil
samples in relation to fertilizer practices was
similar to that for the available P, with the highest
concentration recorded at Thimphu under
inorganic practices in the 0–20 cm soil layer and
the lowest was at Haa under organic practices in
the 21–40 cm soil layer (Table 3). There were
marginal differences observed between inorganic
and the organic and mixed practices with a P-value
of 0.053 which showed that the level of K from
inorganic practices was higher than under the other
two fertilizer practices.
The soil organic carbon (OC) varied
among the fertilizer practices and there were
significant differences among districts (Table 3).
Orchards at Thimphu and Haa showed highly
significant levels of OC compared with those at
Paro. In general, there was a moderate level of
OC in all orchards except in Paro in the 21–40 cm
layer which was low (Table 3).
No significant difference was observed
between districts and fertilizer practices within a
district for exchangeable Ca. The highest Ca level
was from the organic orchards in the 0–20 cm soil
layer at Thimphu and the lowest level was also
from organic orchards in the 21–40 cm soil depth
at Haa (Table 3).
The highest Mg level was in the organic
orchards at Thimphu in the 0–20 cm soil layer and
the lowest was also from organic orchards at Paro
in the 21–40 cm layer (Table 3). There were