Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Influence of Irrigation Water on Black Soils in Amravati District, Maharashtra


Affiliations
1 Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Shri Shivaji College of Agriculture, Amravati 444 603, India
2 Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli 415 712, India
3 Division of Soil Resource Studies, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, India
 

In view of earlier reports on the occurrence of saltaffected shrink-swell soils in the Purna valley areas in Amravati district of Maharashtra, the present study was carried out to assess the current nature and extent of soil degradation due to use of irrigation water. Results indicate that the irrigation water used to raise agricultural crops in Amravati, Bhatkuli, Warud and Daryapur tehsils contains enough soluble Na-ions and residual sodium carbonate as the water belongs to C4S2 and C4S1 class of the United States Salinity Laboratory. The anthropogenic activities by introducing irrigation have caused severe drainage problem in the shrink-swell soils of the district, which are highly clayey and smectitic that have inherent low permeability. Only exception is the better drained soils of Warud tehsil, which are endowed with Ca-zeolite that help to ward off the ill effects of irrigation. The study thus suggests that continuing the present anthropogenic activities might render the soils unsuitable for agricultural production in the future. In contrast, the soils which are not irrigated do not suffer from any serious degradation in terms of high exchangeable Na (ESP) and low saturated hydraulic conductivity (sHC), suggesting that it would be prudent to encourage rainfed agriculture in the district under improved management practices.

Keywords

Anthropogenic Activities, Irrigation Water Quality, Shrink-Swell Soils, Soil Degradation, Soil Quality.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Glanz, J. T., Saving Our Soil: Solutions for Sustaining Earth’s Vital Resource, Johnson Books, Boulder, CO, 1995.

  • Lal, R., Soil carbon sequestration in India. Climate Change, 2004, 65, 277–296.

  • Larson, W. E. and Pierce, F. J., Conservation and enhancement of soil quality. In Evaluation for Sustainable Land Management in the Developing World (ed. Dumanski, J.), Proceedings of the International Workshop, Chiang Rai, Thailand, 15–21 September 1991. Technical papers, vol. 2. Int. Board for Soil Research and Management, Bangkok, Thailand, 1991, pp. 175–203.

  • Sharma, K. L. and Biswapati Mandal, Soil quality and its relevance for sustainable agriculture. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 2009, 57, 572–586.

  • Larson, W. E. and Pierce, F. J., The dynamics of soil quality as a measure of sustainable management. In Defining Soil Quality for a Sustainable Environment (ed. Doran, J. W. et al.), Soil Science Society America and America Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, 1994, vol. 35, pp. 37–51.

  • Dudal, R., Dark clay soils of tropical and subtropical regions, FAO Agricultural Development, Paper No. 83, FAO, Rome, 1965.

  • Murthy, R. S., Hirekerur, L. R., Deshpande, S. B. and Venkat Rao, B. V., Benchmark Soils of India, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (ICAR), Nagpur, India, 1982, p. 308.

  • Bhattacharyya, T., Sarkar, D. and Pal, D. K. (eds), Soil Survey Manual, NBSS & LUP Publication No. 146, NBSS&LUP;, Nagpur, 2009, p. 400.

  • Mandal, D. K., Mandal, C. and Velayutham, M., Development of a land quality index for sorghum in Indian semi-arid tropics (SAT). Agric. Syst., 2001, 70, 335–350.

  • Sharma, K. L. et al., Evaluation of long-term soil management practices through key indicators and soil quality indices using principal component analysis and linear scoring method in rainfed Alfisols. Aust. J. Soil Res., 2008, 46, 368–377.

  • Kundu, S. et al., Assessing soil health of Vertisol of AESR 10.1 using selected physical, chemical and biological attributes of soils. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 2012, 60, 281–287.

  • Ray, S. K. et al., Soil and land quality of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Curr. Sci., 2014, 107, 1470–1486.

  • Adyalkar, P. G., Paleogeography, nature and pattern of sedimentation and ground water potentiality of the Purna basin of Maharashtra. Proc. Nat. Sci., 1963, 29, 25–44.

  • Tanpure, V. D., A study of salinity in well waters of saline Tract of Vidarbha, M Sc thesis (unpubl.) Dr. PDKV, Akola, 1971.

  • Puranik, R. B., Barde, N. K. and Ballal, D. K., Studies on some salinealkali soils of Akola district, Maharashtra state. Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapith Res. J., 1972, 1, 51–58.

  • 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 Degrad. Rehabilitat., 1996, 7, 313–324.

  • Magar, A. S., An appraisal of the nature of salinity and sodicity in black soils of the Purna Valley, M Sc thesis (unpubl.), Dr PDKV, Akola, 1990.

  • Nimkar, A. M., Deshpande, S. B. and Babrekar, P. G., Evaluation of salinity problem in swell-shrink soils of a part of the Purna Valley, Maharashtra. Agropedology, 1992, 2, 59–65.

  • Kadu, P. R., Pal, D. K. and Deshpande, S. B., Effect of low exchangeable sodium on hydraulic conductivity and drainage in shrink-swell soils of Purna Valley, Maharashtra. Clay Res., 1993, 12, 65–70.

  • Van Wambeke, A., Calculated soil moisture and temperature regimes of Asia, SMSS Technical Monograph No. 9, Cornell Univ., Ithaka, New York, 1985.

  • Soil Survey Staff, Keys to Soil Taxonomy (Twelfth edition), United States Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Washington, DC, 2014.

  • Soil Survey Staff, Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Survey, USDA Handbook 436, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1998.

  • Pal, D. K., Genesis of sodic black soils (Vertisols). In International Conference on Sustainable Management of sodic lands, Lucknow, India, 2004, pp. 12–15.

  • Kadu, P. R., Physical and chemical properties affecting hydraulic conductivity of black soils of Purna valley, M Sc thesis (unpubl.) Dr PDKV, Akola, 1991.

  • Balpande, S. S., Characteristics, genesis and degradation of Vertisols of Purna Valley, Maharashtra. Ph D thesis (unpubl.), Dr PDKV, Akola, 1993.

  • Nimkar, A. M., Evaluation of physical and chemical characteristics of soils of the Purna Valley of Maharashtra, M Sc thesis (unpubl.), Dr PDKV, Akola, 1990.

  • Richards, L. A. (ed.), Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils, USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 60, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1954.

  • Elangovan, D., Reappraisal hydrological studies in parts of the Purna Alluvial Valley, Akola district, Maharashtra, Central Groundwater Board, Nagpur, 1985.

  • Muthuraman, K., Tiwari, M. P. and Mukhopadhyay, P. K., Salinity in the groundwater of the Purna basin – its genesis. Geol. Soc. India J., 1992, 39, 50–60.

  • Bhattacharyya, T., Pal, D. K. and Deshpande, S. B., Genesis and transformation of minerals in the formation of red (Alfisols) and black (Inceptisols and Vertisols) soils on Deccan basalt. J. Soil Sci., 1993, 44, 159–171.

  • 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., 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 Peninsular India in refining the sodic soils. Geoderma, 2006, 136, 210–228.

  • Piper, C. S., Soil and Plant Analysis, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 1950.

  • Jackson, M. L., Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice-Hall Inc., Eaglewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1958.

  • Klute, A., Water retention, laboratory methods. In Methods of Soil Analysis Part 1 (ed. Clute, A.), 2nd edn, Agron, Monograph 9, Madison, Wisconsin, 1986, pp. 635–662.

  • Jackson, M. L., Soil Chemical Analysis – Advanced Course, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1979, 2nd edn.

  • Kanwar, J. S., Quality of irrigation water as an index of suitability for irrigation purposes. Potash Rev., 1961, 18, 1–13.

  • Eaton, E. M., Significance of carbonate in irrigation water. Soil Sci., 1950, 69, 123–133.

  • Wilcox, L. V., Determining the quality of irrigation water, US Dept. Agric. Information Bulletin, 1958, pp. 194.

  • Bhattacharyya, T., Pal, D. K. and Srivastava, P., Role of zeolites in persistence of high altitude ferruginous Alfisols of the Western Ghats, India. Geoderma, 1999, 90, 263–276.

  • Padekar, D. G., Soil quality as influenced by landuse management with special reference to irrigation in selected tehsils of Amravati district, Maharashtra, Ph D thesis (unpublished), Dr PDKV, Akola, 2014.

  • Bhattacharyya, T., Chandran, P., Ray, S. K., Pal, D. K., Venugopalan, M. V., Mandal, C. and Wani, S. P., Changes in levels of carbon in soils over years of two important food production zones of India. Curr. Sci., 2007, 93, 1854–1863.

  • FAO, Water Quality for Agriculture. In FAO Irrigation and Drainage (eds Ayers, R. S. and Westcot, D. W.), Paper No. 29, Rev. 1, FAO, Rome, 1994.

  • Vaidya, P. H., Evaluation of shrink-swell soils and groundwater of the Pedhi watershed in Amravati district of land use planning. Ph D thesis (unpubl.), Dr PDKV, Akola, 2001, p. 167.


Abstract Views: 456

PDF Views: 125




  • Influence of Irrigation Water on Black Soils in Amravati District, Maharashtra

Abstract Views: 456  |  PDF Views: 125

Authors

Deepak Padekar
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Shri Shivaji College of Agriculture, Amravati 444 603, India
T. Bhattacharyya
Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli 415 712, India
S. K. Ray
Division of Soil Resource Studies, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, India
P. Tiwary
Division of Soil Resource Studies, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, India
P. Chandran
Division of Soil Resource Studies, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, India

Abstract


In view of earlier reports on the occurrence of saltaffected shrink-swell soils in the Purna valley areas in Amravati district of Maharashtra, the present study was carried out to assess the current nature and extent of soil degradation due to use of irrigation water. Results indicate that the irrigation water used to raise agricultural crops in Amravati, Bhatkuli, Warud and Daryapur tehsils contains enough soluble Na-ions and residual sodium carbonate as the water belongs to C4S2 and C4S1 class of the United States Salinity Laboratory. The anthropogenic activities by introducing irrigation have caused severe drainage problem in the shrink-swell soils of the district, which are highly clayey and smectitic that have inherent low permeability. Only exception is the better drained soils of Warud tehsil, which are endowed with Ca-zeolite that help to ward off the ill effects of irrigation. The study thus suggests that continuing the present anthropogenic activities might render the soils unsuitable for agricultural production in the future. In contrast, the soils which are not irrigated do not suffer from any serious degradation in terms of high exchangeable Na (ESP) and low saturated hydraulic conductivity (sHC), suggesting that it would be prudent to encourage rainfed agriculture in the district under improved management practices.

Keywords


Anthropogenic Activities, Irrigation Water Quality, Shrink-Swell Soils, Soil Degradation, Soil Quality.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv110%2Fi9%2F1740-1755