11 Apr Soil physical constraints for sustainable crop production and their management options
टिकाऊ फसल उत्पादन में मृदा भौतिक दबाव और उनके प्रबंधन के विकल्प Enhanced soil productivity and assured sustainability are the two major concerns to feed the increasing population of the modernized world. Scientific planning and management practices for further enhancement and sustaining of the productive potential of soils, however, require a proper understanding of the factors limiting its productivity. About 1704.68 lakh ha of land areas of our country at present is affected by various soil problems. A number of soil physical constraints result into unfavorable soil environment for nutrient availability and utilization by crops. The physical fertility describes state of soil in respect of flow of water and air, thermal regimes and mechanical resistance to growing seedlings and roots. The adverse physical soil environment limits root growth and its activity and results in reduced nutrient absorption and growth of plants (Peterson et al., 1984). Such physical degradation of soils had affected significant chunk of fertile tracts, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic plains and caused significant loss to crop productivity. The major soil physical constraints limiting the crop production which either restrict the crop growth or reduce the efficiency of basic inputs are- Highly permeable soils: Highly permeable coarse textured soils which are characterized by low water retention, excessive permeability and poor inherent fertility are also...