Question

an essay on uses of soil

Answer 1

soil is an integral part of land wealth. It has a great importance in day-to-day human life. Agricultural products depend on fertility of soil. Fertile soil and more food production influence the density of population.The uppermost layer of the earth's crust is more deniable and the rocks of this layer turn into small particles as a result of denudation and weathering. These small particles mingle with various organic and inorganic materials and by chemical actions turn into soil.So the formation of soil of any place depends on the rocks, climate, relief, vegetation and activities of man and animals of that place. But the influence of the local rocks and climatic influences of the place play a vital role in formation of soil because soils vary according to the local rocks and amount of rainfall. The colors of soils vary because of different organic particles and ferric acid present in it.The Agricultural Research Organisation of India has mentioned 27 different types of soils available in India.Those are divided into 8 main groups, such as: Alluvial soil, Black cotton soil, Red and Yellow soil, Lateritic soil, Forest soil, Desert soil, Saline soil and Peaty and other Organic soils.These soils are also divided into two types according to their mode of formation, such as, Residual soils and Transported soils. The soil formed by disintegration of the uppermost part of the rocks by different means is known as the Residual soil and this soil has close relationship with the base rock beneath it. Red, Yellow, Black, Lateritic, Pool, Saline and Acidic soils come under residual soils. Alluvial soil, desert soil, and the forest soils of the northernmountainous regions come under Transported soils. Alluvial soil, black soil, Red soil and Lateritic soil occupy about more than 80% of the total land area of the country and these are the whole of the farm lands of India. Of course, the desert soil and forest soil cover more areas, but these are not so much suitable for agriculture.Alluvial Soil:This is a very important soil of India and about 24% of the total land surfaces are covered with this type of soil. These are the soils formed by way of transportation and deposition of sediments by the rivers in different river valleys, coastal plains and river deltas. This soil is very fertile and most suitable for agriculture.Two types of alluvial soils are found in the Gangetic plains of the north. Those are the newer alluvium or, Khadar and the older alluvium of Bhangar. The Khadar type of soil is generally sandy in texture and it occurs in the river-beds, but the Bhangar type of soil is of more clayey in composition and darker in color. It is found in the river-basins.In some parts of the Gangetic plains a type of soil full of lime nodules is found. It is known as Kankar which is found a little away from the river banks. The sub-montage belt along the Siwalik foot hills is composed of alluvial fans with coarse soils. The zone is called Bhabar. To its south occurs the swampy lowland with silty soils known as Teri soils. In many areas of north-west Rajasthan and southern parts of Punjab and Haryana wind-borne fertile soils known as Loess is found. This type of soil does not contain organic materials and nitrogen to a great extent but contains potassium and lime for which it is quite suitable for growing cereals, oil seeds, sugar-cane, jute and vegetables. Soils in the deltas and the lower valleys of the Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapti, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Knavery are mainly composed of alluvium. Besides, deltaic alluvium occurs in the deltas of the rivers of the east coast and coastal alluvium in the Malabar and Konkan coasts of the west coast.