Studies on the extractability of available Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in soils using cationexchange resin were carried out. A procedure involving the shaking of 5 g soil with 5 g of resin in 200 ml deionised water for 2 h at 25 & 1 "C followed by colorimetric determination of the micronutrient elements in solution was adopted. This was compared with known chemical extraction methods in the prediction of availability to Phaseolus mungo as test plant. Correlation analysis showed that the method successfully indicated the availability of Cu, Mn and Zn but was not sensitive enough for the prediction of the availability of Fe. The proposed method is simple, convenient and compares favourably with the chemical extractants in the prediction of availability of Cu, Mn and Zn.