Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

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


Affiliations
1 National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (ICAR), Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India
2 International Crops Research Institutes for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
 

Most published research on soil degradation in general emphasizes the role of anthropogenic factors. Even among the natural soil degradation processes the regressive pedogenic processes that lead to the formation of CaCO3 and concomitant development of subsoil sodicity and the adverse effects of palygorskite on the soils of the semi-arid tropics (SAT), have received little global attention as the natural processes of chemical degradation of soils. Studies in India during the last two decades, however, have demonstrated the important role of regressive pedogenic processes in natural degradation of major soil types in the Indian SAT regions. The present article summarizes the research on natural degradation of soils in the Indian SAT. The management practices to reclaim the degraded soils are also discussed with examples.

Keywords

CaCO3 Formation, Regressive Pedogenesis, Remedial Measures, SAT Soils, Subsoil Sodicity.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Pal, D. K., Dasog, G. S., Vadivelu, S., Ahuja, R. L. and Bhattacharyya, T., Secondary calcium carbonate in soils of arid and semi-arid regions of India. In Global Climate Change and Pedogenic Carbonates (eds Lal, R. et al.), Lewis Publishers, USA, 2000, pp. 149–185.

  • Soil Survey Staff, Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys, United States Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 436. US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1975.

  • Pal, D. K., Wani, S. P. and Sahrawat, K. L., Vertisols of tropical Indian environments: Pedology and edaphology. Geoderma, 2012, 189–190, 28–49.

  • Pal, D. K., Wani, S. P., Sahrawat, K. L. and Srivastava, P., Red ferruginous soils of tropical Indian environments: a review of the pedogenic processes and its implications for edaphology. Catena, 2014, 121, 260–278; doi:10.1016/j.catena2014.05.023.

  • Srivastava, P., Pal, D. K., Aruche, K. M., Wani, S. P. and Sahrawat, K. L., Soils of the Indo-Gangetic Plains: a pedogenic response to landscape stability, climatic variability and anthropogenic activity during the Holocene. Earth-Sci. Rev., 2015, 140, 54–71; doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.10.010.

  • Pal, D. K., Sarkar, D., Bhattacharyya, T., Datta, S. C., Chandran, P. and Ray, S. K., Impact of climate change in soils of semi-arid tropics (SAT). In Climate Change and Agriculture (eds Bhattacharyya, T. et al.), Studium Press, New Delhi, 2013, pp. 113– 121.

  • Lal, R., Hall, G. F. and Miller, F. P., Soil degradation. I. Basic processes. Land Degrad. Rehabilitat., 1989, 1, 51–69.

  • Hall, G. F., Daniels, R. B. and Foss, J. E., Rates of soil formation and renewal in the USA. In Determinants of Soil Loss Tolerance (ed. Schmidt, B. L.), ASA Publication No. 45. American Society of Agronomy, USA, 1982, pp. 23–29.

  • Sehgal, J. L. and Abrol, I. P., Land degradation status: India. Desertificat. Control Bull., 1992, 21, 24–31.

  • Sehgal, J. L. and Abrol, I. P., Soil Degradation in India: Status and Impact, Oxford & IBH, New Delhi, 1994.

  • FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Land Degradation in South Asia: its Severity, Causes and Effects upon the People, World Soil Resources Reports 78. FAO, Rome, Italy, 1994.

  • Oldeman, L. R. (ed.), Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD), Guidelines for General Assessment of Status of HumanInduced Soil Degradation, ISRIC, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1988.

  • UNEP, World Atlas of Desertification, Edward Arnold, London, 1992.

  • Balpande, S. S., Deshpande, S. B. and Pal, D. K., Factors and processes of soil degradation in Vertisols of the Purna valley, Maharashtra, India. Land Degradation Dev., 1996, 7, 313–324.

  • Pal, D. K., Balpande, S. S. and Srivastava, P., Polygenetic Vertisols of the Purna Valley of central India. Catena, 2001, 43, 231– 249.

  • Pal, D. K., Srivastava, P. and Bhattacharyya, T., Clay illuviation in calcareous soils of the semi-arid part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Geoderma, 2003, 115, 177–192.

  • Pal, D. K., Srivastava, P., Durge, S. L. and Bhattacharyya, T., Role of microtopography in the formation of sodic soils in the semi-arid part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Catena, 2003, 51, 3–31.

  • Pal, D. K., Bhattacharyya, T., Ray, S. K., Chandran, P., Srivastava, P., Durge, S. L. and Bhuse, S. R., Significance of soil modifiers (Ca-zeolites and gypsum) in naturally degraded Vertisols of the Peninsular India in redefining the sodic soils. Geoderma, 2006, 136, 210–228.

  • Vaidya, P. H. and Pal, D. K., Microtopography as a factor in the degradation of Vertisols in central India. Land Degrad. Dev., 2002, 13, 429–445.

  • Chandran, P. et al., Calcareousness and subsoil sodicity in ferruginous Alfisols of southern India: an evidence of climate shift. Clay Res., 2013, 32, 114–126.

  • Ritter, D. F., Is Quaternary geology ready for the future? Geomorphology, 1996, 16, 273–276.

  • Singh, S., Parkash, B., Rao, M. S., Arora, M. and Bhosle, B., Geomorphology, pedology and sedimentology of the Deoha/Ganga–Ghaghara Interfluve, Upper Gangetic Plains (Himalayan Foreland Basin) – extensional tectonic implications. Catena, 2006, 67, 183–203.

  • Brunner, H., Pleisitozane klimaschwankengen im Bereich den ostlichen Mysore-Plateaus (Sudindien). Geologie, 1970, 19, 72–82.

  • Pal, D. K., Soil modifiers: their advantages and challenges. Clay Res., 2013, 32, 91–101.

  • Pal, D. K., Bhattacharyya, T., Chandran, P. and Ray, S. K., Tectonicsclimate linked natural soil degradation and its impact in rainfed agriculture: Indian experience. In Rainfed Agriculture: Unlocking the Potential (eds Wani, S. P. et al.), CAB International Publishing, Oxfordshire, 2009, pp. 54–72.

  • Wilding, L. P., Odell, R. T., Fehrenbacher, J. B. and Beavers, A. H., Source and distribution of sodium in Solonetz soils in Illinois. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 1963, 27, 432–438.

  • Wright, V. P., Pleokarsts and paleosols as indicators of paleoclimate and porosity evolution: a case study from the carboniferous of South Wales (eds James, N. P. and Choquette, P. W.), Springer, New York, 1988, pp. 329–341.

  • Wieder, M. and Yaalon, D. H., Effect of matrix composition on carbonate nodule crystallization. Geoderma, 1974, 43, 95–121.

  • Srivastava, P., Bhattacharyya, T. and Pal, D. K., Significance of the formation of calcium carbonate minerals in the pedogenesis and management of cracking clay soils (Vertisols) of India. Clays Clay Min., 2002, 50, 111–126.

  • Pal, D. K. et al., Vertisols (cracking clay soils) in a climosequence of Peninsular India: Evidence for Holocene climate changes. Quaternary Int., 2009, 209, 6–21.

  • Richards, L. A. (ed.), Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils, USDA Agriculture Handbook 60, USDA, Washington, USA, 1954.

  • Zade, S. P., Pedogenic studies of some deep shrink-swell soils of Marathwada Region of Maharashtra to develop a viable land use plan, Ph D thesis, Dr PDKV, Akola, Maharashtra, 2007.

  • Heidari, A., Mahmoodi, Sh., Roozitalab, M. H. and Mermut, A. R., Diversity of clay minerals in the Vertisols of three different climatic regions in western Iran. J. Agric. Sci. Technol., 2008, 10, 269–284.

  • Singer, A., Palygorskite and sepiolite. In Soil Mineralogy with Environmental Applications (eds. Dixon, J. B. and Schulze, D. G.), SSSA Book Series, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, 2002, vol. 7, pp. 555–583.

  • Neaman, A., Singer, A. and Stahr, K., Clay mineralogy as affecting disaggregation in some palygorskite-containing soils of the Jordan and Bet-She’an Valleys. Aust. J. Soil Res., 1999, 37, 913–928.

  • Neaman, A. and Singer, A., The effects of palygorskite on chemical and physico-chemical properties of soils: a review. Geoderma, 2004, 123, 297–303.

  • Abrol, I. P. and Fireman, M., Alkali and Saline Soils; Identification and Improvement for Crop Production, Bulletin No. 4. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, 1977.

  • Pal, D. K., Mandal, D. K., Bhattacharyya, T., Mandal, C. and Sarkar, Revisiting the agro-ecological zones for crop evaluation. Indian J. Genet., 2009, 69, 315–318.

  • Kadu, P. R., Vaidya, P. H., Balpande, S. S., Satyavathi, P. L. A. and Pal, D. K., Use of hydraulic conductivity to evaluate the suitability of Vertisols for deep-ischolar_mained crops in semi-arid parts of central India. Soil Use Manage., 2003, 19, 208–216.

  • Soil Survey Staff, Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 436, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1999.

  • Wani, S. P., Pathak, P., Jangawad, L. S., Eswaran, H. and Singh, P., Improved management of Vertisols in the semi-arid tropics for increased productivity and soil carbon sequestration. Soil Use Manage., 2003, 19, 217–222.

  • Pal, D. K., Wani, S. P. and Sahrawat, K. L., Role of calcium carbonate minerals in improving sustainability of degraded cracking clay soils (Sodic Haplusterts) by improved management: an appraisal of results from the semi-arid zones of India. Clay Res., 2012, 31, 94–108.

  • Wani, S. P., Sahrawat, K. L., Sreedevi, T. K., Bhattacharyya, T., Srinivas Rao, Ch., Carbon sequestration in the semi-arid tropics for improving livelihoods. Int. J. Environ. Stud., 2007, 64, 719–727.

  • Pal, D. K., Bhattacharyya, T. and Wani, S. P., Formation and management of cracking clay soils (Vertisols) to enhance crop productivity: Indian Experience. In World Soil Resources (eds Lal, R. and Stewart, B. A.), Francis and Taylor, Boca Raton, Florida, 2012, pp. 317–343.

  • Pal, D. K., Wani, S. P. and Sahrawat, K. L., Carbon sequestration in Indian soils: Present status and the potential. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Biol. Sci. (NASB), India, 2015, 85, 337–358; doi:10.1007/s40011-014-0351-6.


Abstract Views: 398

PDF Views: 141




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

Abstract Views: 398  |  PDF Views: 141

Authors

D. K. Pal
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (ICAR), Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India
T. Bhattacharyya
International Crops Research Institutes for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
K. L. Sahrawat
International Crops Research Institutes for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
Suhas P. Wani
International Crops Research Institutes for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India

Abstract


Most published research on soil degradation in general emphasizes the role of anthropogenic factors. Even among the natural soil degradation processes the regressive pedogenic processes that lead to the formation of CaCO3 and concomitant development of subsoil sodicity and the adverse effects of palygorskite on the soils of the semi-arid tropics (SAT), have received little global attention as the natural processes of chemical degradation of soils. Studies in India during the last two decades, however, have demonstrated the important role of regressive pedogenic processes in natural degradation of major soil types in the Indian SAT regions. The present article summarizes the research on natural degradation of soils in the Indian SAT. The management practices to reclaim the degraded soils are also discussed with examples.

Keywords


CaCO3 Formation, Regressive Pedogenesis, Remedial Measures, SAT Soils, Subsoil Sodicity.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv110%2Fi9%2F1675-1682