Dry Lands for Agriculture
Dear sir, generally different soil groups encountered in dryland areas are black soils, red soils and alluvial soils. The constraints for crop production are different in different soil groups. The predominant soil group is alluvial where the problems for crop production are not so acute as in red and black soils .The different soil constraints for crop production are
a) Inadequate soil moisture availability: The moisture holding capacity of soils in dry regions is low due to shallow depth especially in alfisols (red soils), low rainfall and low organic matter content.
b) Poor organic matter content: The organic matter content in most of the soils under dryland conditions is very low (< 1 %) due to high temperature and low addition of organic manures. Poor organic matter content adversely affects soil physical properties related to moisture storage.
c) Poor soil fertility: Due to low accumulation of organic matter and loss of fertile top soil by soil erosion the dry land soils are poor in fertility status. Most of the dry land soils are deficient in nitrogen and zinc.
d) Soil deterioration due to erosion (wind, water): In India nearly 175 m.ha of
land is subjected to different land degradations, among them the soil erosion is very predominant. The erosion causes loss of top fertile soil leaving poor sub soil for crop cultivation.
e) Soil crust problem: In case of red soils, the formation of hard surface soil layers hinders the emergence of seedlings which ultimately affect the plant population.
Crusting of soil surface after rainfall reduces infiltration and storage of rainfall, due to high run off.
f) Presence of hard layers and deep cracks: Presence of hard layers (pans) in soil and deep cracks affect the crop production especially in case of black soils.
Depending upon the soil characteristics suitable crops can be reaised on the land available.
Please consult us regarding project report for development of land and plantations to be taken up in future.
