Vertisols of tropical Indian environments: Pedology and edaphology

Abstract

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright

Natural Chemical Degradation of Soils in the Indian Semi-Arid Tropics and Remedial Measures

“…Although selected pedogenic processes such as laterization, hard setting, fragipan formation and claypan formation are hitherto considered as natural soil degradation processes as they lead to less desirable physical and chemical conditions, causing degradation of soils 7,8 , the majority of the information on soil degradation at national 9,10 , regional 11 or international level 12,13 has focused only on anthropogenic degradation. However, a few recent reports on major soil types (Indo-Gangetic Plains or IGP, red ferruginous and deep black soils) at the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP, ICAR), Nagpur, India showed that the development of sodicity and accumulation of relatively higher amounts of exchangeable Mg (EMP) than that of exchangeable Ca (ECP) in soils are also a natural process of soil degradation in the SAT climatic conditions 1,3,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] .…”

“…It was, however, envisaged that if adverse changes occur in some areas, then these processes will certainly constitute a most serious form of humaninduced degradation of natural resources. Climate change from the humid to semi-arid did occur during the late Holocene in major parts of the Indian subcontinent [3][4][5] . It is quite likely, therefore, that the current aridic environment prevailing in many parts of the world, including India, might create adverse physical and chemical environment, leading to reduced productivity of soils.…”

“…It is quite likely, therefore, that the current aridic environment prevailing in many parts of the world, including India, might create adverse physical and chemical environment, leading to reduced productivity of soils. In addition, the impairment of soil physical properties in presence of magnesium-rich palygorskite minerals has also been observed 3,24 . Thus a new research initiative to identify the changes in soil properties in the SAT due to climate change and Mg-minerals, can help in expanding our basic knowledge in pedology and thus provide opportunity to develop relevant database 25 .…”

“…There is no dearth of literature on soil degradation due to anthropogenic activities [9][10][11][12][13] . But a precise account of factors of natural chemical degradation in major soil types of India forms a robust database for reference [3][4][5]25 to expand the present knowledge on natural soil degradation and to protect the livelihood of humankind.…”

“…Moreover the rain-fed agriculture in the SAT area is fragile in view of spatial and temporal variation of rainfall. Besides, the rainfall is of high intensity and during a short duration, which causes severe soil erosion, leading to physical, chemical and biological degradation of soils 1,[3][4][5] . This basic fact has made scientists, agriculturists, environmentalists and policy makers anxious whether the soil resource base will be able to feed the expected 8.2 billion world population by 2030 (www.unpopulation.org).…”