Status of Morphological and Physico-chemical Properties of Balh Valley Soils of Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh in North Western Himalayas India

Abstract

Background: Himachal Pradesh (India) lying in North West Himalayas were studied for their morphological, physical and chemical properties. Himachal Pradesh, is a mountainous region spread over an area of 55,673 km² with elevation ranging from 350 to 6,500 meters above mean sea level noticeably increased from west to east and south to north. For agricultural planning, development and the sustainable use of natural resources. The state has been categorized into four agro-climatic situations viz. low hills, mid hills sub humid, high hills temperate and high hills dry temperate. However, considerable variations exist within each zone, owing to soil type and local preferences resulting into diversified farming situations. Methods: A six profile sites of soils were collected randomly from vegetable and cereals growing areas falling under midhill zone. After collecting soil samples, these were air dried and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. The study determined the level of availability of nutrients and know the fertility status of studied areas. Result: The results show that soils are deep, well drained, silty loam to silty clay loam with dark brown to brownish yellow in colour. No gravels were noticed upto 0.6 m depth and the soil consistency was firm to loose. Few to many black brown concretions were observed only in rice growing soils. Silty loam was the dominant texture of the soils irrespective of soil depth. Coarse sand fraction was more in all soil profiles. Macro and micronutrients contents were higher under the vegetable growing soils than paddy and maize growing soils. In none of the soils except Dhangu, illuviation of clay had been observed. The values of bulk density, particle density and porosity were variable depending upon organic carbon and other soil characteristics. The soils were slightly acidic to neutral in reaction, medium to high in organic carbon and moderate in available N, P and K status. The DTPA-extractable Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn were also high in these soils. Similarity in the colour and texture in most of the soils indicated the dominant influence of parent material.