Introduction
Soil is most valuable resource for every human being. Soil is the combination of rock debris and organic materials, which produce on the earth’s surface. Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of production human civilization. The article Indian Soil and Agriculture presents the points related to types of soil and importance of Agriculture.
Soil
Indian Soil and Agriculture - Soil:
- India is an Agrarian country & Soil is its prime resource.
- It plays a vital role in the economy of India as our industries are mainly Agro-based.
- About 65 to 70% of the total population of the country is depended on agriculture.
- Alluvial Soil
- Regur or Black Soil
- Red Soil
- Laterite Soil
- Desert Soil
- Mountain Soil
- Deposition of materials by sea and river is called alluvium and the soil formed due to deposition of alluvium is called as alluvial soil.
- This type of soil mainly found in the Indo-Ganga and Brahmaputra plain i.e. the whole northern plain and in some parts of the river basin in the south and some plateau region.
- This soil is also found in the deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari, Cauvery and Krishna.
- Alluvial soil can be broadly categorised in two types i.e. New alluvial soil and old alluvial soil.
- Old alluvial soils are found in slightly elevated areas far away from the river and are clayey and sticky.
- The new alluvial soil is found in the oodplain of the river and is much fertile in comparison to the old alluvial soil.
- Crops Grown: Alluvial soil is suitable for the rabi and kharif crop like cereals, cotton, oilseeds and sugarcane.
- The regur or black soils have developed extensively upon the Lava Plateaus of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh mainly Malwa and are formed due to volcanic activities.
- These soils are very fertile and contain a high percentage of lime and a moderate amount of potash.
- The type of soil is especially suited for the cultivation of cotton and hence sometimes called ‘black cotton soil.’
- Crops Grown: Cotton, Jowar, Wheat, Linseed, Gram, Fruit and Vegetable.
- Red soils develop on granite and geneses rocks under low rainfall condition i.e. due to weathering of the metamorphic rocks.’
- These soils are red in colour due to the high concentration of Iron Oxide.’
- These soils are friable and medium fertile and found mainly in almost whole of Tamil Nadu, South-eastern Karnataka, North-eastern and South-eastern Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand the major parts of Orissa, and the Hills and Plateaus of North-east India.’
- These soils are decient in Phosphoric acid, organic matter and nitrogenous material.’
- Crops Grown: Wheat, Rice, Millet's, Pulses.
- Laterite is a kind of clayey rock or soil formed under high temperature and high rainfall and with alternate dry and wet period,.
- Laterite and lateritic soils are found in South Maharashtra, the Western Ghats in Kerala and Karnataka, at places in Odisha, small parts of Chottanagpur and in some parts of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and in western West Bengal (particularly in Birbhum district).
- Crops Grown: tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona, coconut, arecanut, etc.
- This type of soil is unsuitable for agriculture due to the high content of acidity and inability to retain moisture.
- This type of soils found in Rajasthan, Haryana and the South Punjab, and sandy.
- In the absence of sufcient wash by rainwater, soils have become saline and rather unt for cultivation.
- In spite of that cultivation can be carried on with the help of modern irrigation.
- Wheat, bajra, groundnut, etc. can be grown in this soil.
- This type of soil is rich in Phosphates and Calcium but decient in Nitrogen and humus.
- Soil found in higher altitude on the mountain is called as Mountain soil.
- The characteristics of this type of soil are changed according to the altitudes.
- This type of soil is suitable for the cultivation of potatoes, fruits, tea coffee and spices and wheat
Indian Soil and Agriculture - Types of Agriculture in India:
There are different types of farming activities performed in India which are as follows:
Subsistence Farming:
- Subsistence farming is a type of farming in which nearly all the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and farmer’s family leaving little.
- Subsistence farms usually consist of no more than a few acres, and farm technology tends to be primitive and of low yield.
- Mixed farming is an agricultural system in which a farmer conducts different agricultural practice together, such as cash crops and livestock.
- The aim is to increase income through different sources and to complement land and labour demands across the year.
- Shifting cultivation means migratory shifting agriculture.
- Under this system, a plot of land is cultivated for a few years and then, when the crop yield declines because of soil exhaustion and the effects of pests and weeds, is deserted for another area.
- Here the ground is again cleared by slash-and-burn methods, and the procedure is repeated.
- Shifting cultivation is predominant in the forest areas of Assam (Known as jhum), Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (Podu).
- This is a system of farming in which the farmer uses the limited amount of labour and capital on a relatively large area.
- This type of agriculture is practised in countries where population size is small and land is enough.
- Per acre yield is low but the overall production is in surplus due to less population.
- Here machines and technology are used in farming.
- This is a system of farming in which the cultivator uses a larger amount of labour and capital on a relatively small area.
- This type of farming is performed in countries where the population to land ratio is high i.e. the population is big and the land is small.
- Annually two or three types of crops are grown over the land.
- Manual labor is used.
Quiz
1. Which soil is also known as Kari Soil in Keral?
- A. Alkaline Soil
B. Peats Soil
C. Forest Soil
D. All of the above
- A. Alluuvial Soil
B. Black Soil
C. Laterite Soil
D. Red Soil
- A. Saline Soils
B. Peaty Soils
C. Laterite Soils
D. Forest Soils
- A. Laterite soil
B. Desert soil
C. Peaty soil
D. Alluvial soil
- A. Both have rocks and nutrients
B. Both soils are thinner
C. Both Soil profile is rich
D. All of the above
- A. Soil permeability
B. Soil texture
C. Soil plasticity
D. Soil structure
- A. Black soil
B. Laterite Soil texture
C. Red Soil
D. Montane Soil
- A. Black Soils
B. Arid Soils
C. Laterite Soils
D. Saline Soils
- A. Loamy Soil
B. Sandy Soil
C. Clay Soil
D. Both A and B
- A. Black Soil
B. Yellow Soil
C. Laterite Soil
D. Alluvial Soil