management of soils of andhra pradesh

193 Pages·2013·3.11 MB·English

MANAGEMENT
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ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030
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MANAGEMENT
OF
SOILS OF ANDHRA PRADESH
J. VENKATESWARLU
CHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030
FEBRUARY 2001
Printed at ANGRAU Press, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030
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Dr. I. V. SUBBA RAO Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricnltural University
Vice-Chancellor Admn.Office, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030
FOREWORD
Soil is the base for crop production. The present and future of our
civilization depends on its rational use and management. A broad
understanding of the principles involved in proper husbandry of soils is
the key to increasing crop production and proper utilization of this natural
resource.
My guide and philosopher and former Vice-Chancellor of A..P.
Agricultural University, Shri J. Raghotham Reddy was right in asking
Dr. J. Venkateswarlu, the then Director of the Central Research Institute
for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad to bring out a publication on
Management of Soils of Andhra Pradesh for use by the extension staff
and the enlightened farmers. I am happy that Dr. Venkateswarlu has
made a sincere attempt in putting the difficult subject of soil science into
simple and easily understandable language, keeping in' view the needs
of his clientele group. I compliment the sincere and honest efforts of
Dr. Venkateswarlu to present all these details for the first time in Telugu
and publishing the same in ANNADATA for the benefit of the farmers.
In this book, the ability of soils to supply nutrients and water to
crops, management of soil fertility for increasing crop production and
methods' of conservation and reclamation of deteriorated soils have
been discussed. The author has rightly emphasized that scientific soil
management holds the key to sustained higher productivity of soil for
increasing efficiency of inputs, of which fertilizer is one of them.
on
The author has further added notes the nutrient deficiencies
and symptoms in various crops. A brief outline on soil survey in
identifying efficient land use capabilities. ,and nutrient deficiency
symptoms on important crops should prove useful to the users of this
publication. I am happy that the author has il'itroduced the concept of
watershed and management of deep black soils (Vertisols) and red soils
(Alfisols). However, for more details, the reader is required to refer to
specific publications on the subject given under references to suggested
reading. I hope the extension officers of the State Department of
Agriculture, teachers in Vocational Training Institutes and the
enlightened farmers, who are the clientele for this publication would find
it very useful for improving crop production through better soil
management.
Finally, I appreciate the work and efforts put in by
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Dr. V. Adinarayana, Deputy Director of Research in bringing out this
publication by Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, as part of its
service to the farmers.
Rajendranagar I. V. SUBBA RAO
PREFACE
Sri J. Raghotham Reddy, Vice-Chancellor (Retd.), A.P.
Agricultural University, Hyderabad, asked me to write a treatise on
Management of Soils of Andhra Pradesh as a resource material for use
by the grass root extension officers of the State .. He desired that it
should also prove useful to the educated farmers, undergraduates in
agriculture and even for vocational training.
With this background 1 ventured to bring out this treatise on
Management of Soils of Andhra Pradesh. The then Vice-Chancellor
preferred that it should be immediately translated into Telugu and
published through a popular agriculture journal of the State. Accordingly
this was done. My special thanks are due to Sri K.S. Reddy, Editor,
Annadata, who did a marvelous job in translation.
Later, I thought that the material contained in the treatise should
be updated and efforts should be made to include the more recent
aspects like resource degradation and its retrieval, management of
wastelands and updated views on area development on watershed
basis. This is besides the earlier emphasis on management of soil
fertility for increasing productivity. Some of the soil processes and
problems have been put as box items with suitable illustrations.
While preparing the material I have consulted several books
particularly on soil science, besides many reports of the Acharya
N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and state department of agriculture.
I gratefully acknowledge the same. And I am grateful to Dr. J.S. Kanwar,
Dy. Director General (Emeritus), ICRISAT, for critically examining
earlier manuscript and making suggestions for improvement. I thank
Dr. IV. Subba Rao, Vice-Chancellor of ANGRAU for reviewing the
revised manuscript and for providing suggestions for improving the
, I
manuscript. !
I
My first attempt was with the financial support of the Farmers
Welfare Trust, Hyderabad, which is gratefully acknowledged. The
updated version of the treatise is now brought out by ANGRAU. I thank
the Vice-Chancellor and Dr. V. Adinarayana, Dy. Director (Research) for
reviewing and arranging the printing of the treatise.
I hope this book will be found useful as a resource material for
those intending in scientific management on soils, particularly of Andhra
Pradesh.
Any comment for improving the contents is welcome.
Hyderabad 1. VENKATESWARLU
CONTENTS
page
1. Important Soils ofA ndltra Pradesh 1-24
2. Arable Agriculture and Soil Deterioration 25 -47
3. Resource Degradation and Its Retrieval 49-57
for Sustainability
4. Management of Wastelands 59-69
5. Nutrient Managementfor Efficient 71-78
Crop Production -Principles
6. Management ofN utrients 79-103
7. Soil Testing 105-113
8. Plant Analysis 115 -130
9. Deficiency and Toxicity Symptoms of 131 - 146
Various Nutrients in Selected Crops
10. Soil Survey in Landuse Planning 147 - 165
11. Area Developmenton Watershed Basis 167 - 184
--- .:. ---
Chapter 1
IMPORTANT SOILS OF ANDHRA PRADESH
Three important groups of soils are identified in the State (Table 1).
They are: i) red soils covering about 55 percent of the area; ii) black soils
covering about 20 percent of the area; and iii) the rice soils which occur
both in red and black soils to the extent of 3.5 Mha out of 11.4 Mha of
cultivated areas. Besides these the coastal sandy soils form a small fraction
of the soils. So are the salt-infested soils, a discussion of which would be
made elsewhere. The soil map of Andhra Pradesh is given in Fig. 1.
1.1. RED SOILS:
There are various traditional nomenclatures for the various types of
red soils occurring in the State.
Traditional Occurrence (Districts)
nomenclature *
Red sandy loams Parts of Ranga Reddy, Medak, Guntur,
(Alfisols, Entisols, Prakasam, Nellore and KumooI
Inceptisols)
Red earths Telangana region, parts of Rayalaseema and
(Alfisols, Inceptisols) Nellore
Red loamy soils (shallow Parts of Cuddapah, Anantapur, Chittoor and
to medium) Nellore
(Alfisols, Entisols)
Red loamy soils ( deep) Parts of Khammam, Krishna and Guntur
(Alfisols)
Red soils with clay base Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam,
(deep) (Alfisols) parts of East and West Godavari
Laterites Kavali taluq of Nellore, Zaheerabad mandaI
(Oxisols) of Medak and very small pockets in
Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and West
Godavari
* Nomenclature in parentheses as per 12th approximation of USDA soil classification
Management ofSoi/s of Andhra Pradesh
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I SOILS or MID/inA pnADESI/ _tL
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TAHllIlAOV @.r;.~j Oll\CII SOilS (DElI' 10 V[,ny
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Fig. 1 : Soil Map of Andhra Pradesh
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