Surface Soil and Subsoil Acidity in Natural and Managed Land-Use Systems in the Humid Tropics of Peninsular India

Natural forests and managed plantations constitute the largest land-use systems in the humid tropics of southwestern parts of Peninsular India comprising the Western Ghats and coastal plain. Soils therein are naturally acidic and the acidity is enhanced in managed land-use systems through inputs of chemical fertilizers. Plant nutrient deficiencies and mineral toxicities constrain crop production in acid soils. Surface soil and subsoil acidity in forest, coffee, rubber and coconut land-use systems was evaluated. The spatial pattern of surface soil and subsoil acidity pointed to low intensity of acidification in Malnad region of Karnataka, moderate acidity in northern Kerala and strong acidity in southern Kerala. Among the land-use systems studied, soils under natural forests and coffee plantations were only slightly acidic in surface soil and subsoil, whereas rubber- and coconut-growing soils were strongly acidic. Both natural and managed land-use systems, however, had strongly acid reaction in surface soil and subsoil in southern Kerala. Biomass production and crop yield are constrained in strongly acid soil by toxic levels of aluminium (Al) on soil exchange complex (>0.5 cmol (+) kg^–1 soil) and depletion of basic cations of calcium, magnesium and potassium (base saturation less than 50% or Al saturation more than 50%). Surface soil acidity can be ameliorated by incorporating liming materials into surface soils. In case of subsoil acidity gypsum too should be incorporated. Under humid climate partial solubility of gypsum permits movement of calcium into the subsoil layers, wherein calcium replaces the aluminium on exchange complex and sulphate radical precipitates the aluminium by formation of aluminium sulphate.