11 Apr Management of chemically deteriorated Indian soils
रासायनिक रूप से विकृत भारतीय मृदाओं का प्रबन्धन। Chemical deterioration of soils is a type of soil degradation that involves loss of nutrients or organic matter, salinity, acidification, soil pollution and fertility decline. The removal of nutrients reduces the capacity of soils to support plant growth and crop production and causes acidification. In arid and semi-arid areas problems can arise due to accumulation of salts, which impedes the entry of water in plant roots. Chemical deterioration of soils is often also due to agricultural over exploitation, relying solely on replenishing nutrient losses through harvesting by artificial chemical fertilizers. Indiscriminate irrigation for getting higher yield has led to water logging; nutrient losses and increased salinity of lands threatened the sustainability of crop yields. The increasing salinization of thousands of hectares of cultivated lands with raised water table in many canal command areas is a serious threat and needs attention failing which a significant area may be rendered unproductive and unfit for cultivation. 1. Acid Soils: In India nearly 145 million hectares of lands are cultivated and a rough estimate indicates 48 million ha of soil is acidic in nature of which 25 m ha shows pH below 5.5 while about 23 m ha has pH between 5.6 and 6.5 (Bhat, et. al. 2007). Acid soils are characterized by low soil pH which varies from strongly acidic (4.5-5.5) to extremely acidic...