Preliminary Study on Available Sulfur in Tobacco-planting Soils and Sulfur Content in Flue-cured Tobacco Leaves in Hunan Province

Soil available sulfur and flue-cured tobacco leaf sulfur contents were determined in soil and leaf samples from tobacco-planting areas in Hunan. The results indicated that the average contents of available sulfur in tobacco-planting soil were 34.74 mg/kg, only 20% of soil samples were in optimum soil sulfate range. About 80% of total tobacco planting areas was on the high sulfate range. The average flue-cured tobacco leaf sulfur contents were 0.849%, only 30% of leaf samples were in optimum sulfate range, about 70% of flue-cured tobacco leaves sulfur content were over 0.70%, especially in Liuyang and Ningxiang county where flue-curd tobacco leaf sulfur contents were above 1.00%. The range and coefficient of variability of soil available sulfur contents in tobacco-planting soil were huge. The range and coefficient of variability of soil available sulfur contents in tobacco-planting soil were 70.38 mg/kg and 41.85% respectively. At the same time, The range and coefficient of variability of flue-cured tobacco leaves sulfur contents were huge too. The range and the coefficient of variability of flue-cured tobacco leaves sulfur contents were 1.412% and 34.28%, respectively. The results suggested the contents of available sulfur in tobacco-planting soil and sulfur in flue-cured tobacco leaves were high with huge variation in Hunan.