Assessment of soil physical health and productivity of Kharkhoda and Gohana blocks of Sonipat district (Haryana), India

Abstract

Abstract:In order to assess soil health of Kharkhoda and Gohana blocks of Sonipat district (a part of western Yamuna canal irrigated region), important parameters namely pH, electrical conductivity (EC), texture, bulk density (BD), saturated hydraulic conductivity (HC), soil organic carbon (OC), available water retension capacity (AWRC) and non capillary pores (NCP) were measured by collecting undisturbed soil samples in nearly 66 villages. Soil physical rating index (PI) method was used to compute PI which was an indicator of soil physical health of that region. Results revealed that in Gohana and Kharkhoda blocks, nearly 90% area had pH <8.0 and EC>4 dS m -1 , which indicated that soils were saline. Prediction maps of soil BD showed that 75% of the total area in 15-30 cm soil layer had BD above >1.6 mg m -3 , which indicated the presence of hard pan in subsurface. HC data of subsurface layer also showed that 60% of the area had values<0.5 cm hr -1 which reconfirmed the presence of hard pan. For both surface as well as subsurface soil layers, mostly AWC was >10% which indicated adequate water retention capacity of these soils. However 85% of subsurface had poor soil aeration capacity as indicated NCP range < 10 %. Prediction map of PI for subsurface layer showed that majority of area had PI<0.4 which indicated that expected yield of the crop cannot be more than 70% of the potential yield even under normal or higher levels of fertilizer and water inputs.

Effect of conservation agriculture on soil hydro-physical properties, total and particulate organic carbon and root morphology in wheat (Triticum aestivum) under rice (Oryza sativa)-wheat system

“…This accompanied with loss in soil carbon (Singh et al 2014, Mondal et al 2016) cause adverse impact on soil physical condition. Moreover, sub-surface soil compaction has been a major concern in rice-wheat system in Indo-Gangetic Plains (Aggarwal et al 2006, Kumar et al 2014) and elsewhere. European Union have acknowledged the compaction as a serious form of soil degradation and covering an area of 33 M ha in Europe (FAO 2015).…”

Impact of long term zero tillage on soil physical properties: A review

“…In the field, soil water content increases following irrigation or rainfall event and then decreases due to drainage and evapotranspiration, causing a continual variations in mechanical impedance and soil water matric potential (Bengough et al, 2011) [10] . Puddling in rice in rice-wheat cropping system of South-east Asia has been extensively reported to cause degradation of soil aggregates and favours the formation of compact subsurface hard layer (Aggarwal et [1,64,65] . Crop residue which is retained on the soil surface can protect the soil surface layer from compaction (Thomas et al, 1995) [117] .…”

Economic evaluation of conservation tillage options for deciding the feasibility of their adoption

“…Continued puddling for rice cultivation over decades has led to deterioration of soil physical properties through structural breakdown of soil aggregates and capillary pores and clay dispersion thereby restricting germination and rooting of succeeding crops (Gangwar et al, 2006). Expected yield of the crop cannot be more than 70% of the potential yield even under normal or higher levels of fertilizer and water inputs (Kumar et al, 2014). Evidence from longterm experiments shows that crop yields are stagnating and sometimes declining (Duxbury et al, 2000;Ladha et al, 2003).…”