genesis, classification and evaluation of soils in yerpedu mandal of chittoor district, andhra pradesh

263 Pages·2016·1.44 MB·English

GENESIS, CLASSIFICATION AND EVALUATION
OF SOILS IN YERPEDU MANDAL OF CHITTOOR

DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

By

G.P.LEELAVATHI,
B.Sc.(Ag.)

THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE
ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF SCIENCE
IN THE FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
(SOIL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY)

DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY
SRI VENKATESWARA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, TIRUPATI
ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
RAJENDRA NAGAR, HYDERABAD- 500 030

OCTOBER, 2006
CERTIFICATE

Ms.G.P.LEELAVATHI has satisfactorily prosecuted the course
of research and that the thesis entitled “GENESIS,
CLASSIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF SOILS IN YERPEDU
MANDAL OF CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH”
submitted is the result of original research work and is of
sufficiently high standard to warrant its presentation to the
examination. I also certify that the thesis or part thereof has not
been previously submitted by her for a degree of any University.

Date :
(Dr.M.V.S.NAIDU)
Major Advisor
DECLARATION

I, Ms.G.P.LEELAVATHI hereby declare that the thesis entitled
“GENESIS, CLASSIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF SOILS IN
YERPEDU MANDAL OF CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA
PRADESH” submitted to Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University
for the degree of Master of Science in Agriculture majoring in
Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry is the result of original
research work done by me. I also declare that the materials contained
in this thesis has not been published earlier.

Date : (G.P.LEELAVATHI)
CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled “GENESIS,
CLASSIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF SOILS IN YERPEDU
MANDAL OF CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH”
submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE of the
Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, is
a record of the bonafide research work carried out by
Ms.G.P.LEELAVATHI under our guidance and supervision. The
subject of the thesis has been approved by the Student's Advisory
Committee.

No part of the thesis has been submitted by the student for
any other degree or diploma. The published part has been fully
acknowledged. All the assistance and help received during the
course of investigations have been duly acknowledged by the
author of the thesis.

(Dr.M.V.S.NAIDU)
Chairman of the Advisory Committee

Thesis approved by the Student's Advisory Committee

Chairman : (Dr.M.V.S.NAIDU) _________________________
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Soil Science & Agril. Chemistry
S.V.Agricultural College
Tirupati - 517 502

Member : (Dr.N.RAMAVATHARAM) _________________________
Professor & Head
Dept. of Soil Science & Agril. Chemistry
S.V.Agricultural College
Tirupati - 517 502

Member : (Dr.G.KARUNA SAGAR) _________________________
Associate Professor (F.S)
Dept. of Agronomy
S.V.Agricultural College
Tirupati - 517 502
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

% : percentage
< : less than
> : greater than
°C : Degree Celsius
CEC : Cation Exchange Capacity
cm : centimeter
cmol(p+)kg-1 : centimole per kilogram
dSm-1 : deci Seimen per meter
EC : Electrolyte Conductivity
et al. : and others
etc. : etcetera
Fig. : Figure
g kg-1 : gram per kilogram
i.e., : that is
m : meter
MAAT : Mean Annual Air Temperature
MAST : Mean Annual Soil Temperature
mg kg-1 : milligram per kilogram
Mg mg-3 : Mega gram per cubic meter
mha : million hectare
mm : millimeter
MSST : Mean Summer Soil Temperature
MWST : Mean Winter Soil Temperature
NBSS & LUP : National Beauru of soil
Survey and Land Use Planning
nm : nano meter
USDA : United States Department of Agriculture
Viz., : namely
LIST OF CONTENTS

Chapter
Title Page number
Number
I INTRODUCTION 1-3
II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4-50
III MATERIALS AND METHODS 51-64
IV RESULTS 65-165
V DISCUSSION 166-208
VI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 208-213
LITERATURE CITED I – XXXI
APPENDIX XXXII – XXXXV
LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
Title
No. No.
1. Meteorological data of the study area (1995-2005) 67
2. Vegetation and land use of the study area 70
3. Details of the pedons 72
Summary of the morphological characters of the
4. 78-79
pedons
5. Particle size analysis data of soils ( < 2 mm size) 92
6. Range and mean of particle size analysis of the soils 93
7. Physical characteristics of the soils 99
8. Range and mean of physical properties of the soils 100
9. Physico-chemical properties of the soils 103
Range and mean of physico-chemical properties of
10. 104
the soils
11. Electro-chemical properties of the soils 107
Range and mean of electro-chemical properties of
12. 108
the soils
13. Per cent saturation of individual bases 112
14. Chemical composition of the soils (%) 115
Range and mean of chemical composition of the
15. 116
soils (%)
Table Page
Title
No. No.
16. Molar concentrations and molar ratios of the soils 121
Range and mean of molar concentration and
17. 122
molar ratios of the soils
Available and total macronutrients content
18. 125
(mg kg-1) of the soils
Range and mean of available and total
19. 126
macronutrients content (mg kg-1) of the soils
Available and total micronutrient status (mg kg-l)
20. 132
of the soils
Range and mean of available and total
21. 133
micronutrients content (mg kg-l) of the soils
d-spacings (nm) of X-ray diffractograms in clay
22. 158-159
fraction (less than 2 micron fraction)
23. Relative proportion of clay minerals 160
24. Soil classification 162
Land capability classification of soils of Yerpedu
25. 163
mandal
Simple correlations between different soil
26. 164
properties of profile soil samples
27. Interpretation of soils of Yerpedu mandal 206-207
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page
Title
No. No.
1. Location map of Yerpedu mandal 66
2. Ombrothermic graph of study area (Yerpedu mandal) 68
3. Profile diagrams of pedons 80
4. Profile diagrams of pedons 81
5. Profile diagrams of pedons 82
6. Profile diagram of pedon 83
7. Vertical distribution of soil particles 94
8. Vertical distribution of soil particles 95
9. Depth functions of electro-chemical characters 109
10. Depth functions of electro-chemical characters 110
11. Vertical distribution of silica and sesquioxides 117
12. Vertical distribution of silica and sesquioxides 118
13. Vertical distribution of macronutrients 127
14. Vertical distribution of macronutrients 128
15. Vertical distribution of micronutrients 134
16. Vertical distribution of micronutrients 135
Figure Page
Title
No. No.
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 1
17. 139
(Ultic Haplustalfs)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 2
18. 142
(Typic Haplustepts)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 3
19. 145
(Ultic Haplustalfs)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 4
20. 148
(Typic Haplustepts)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 5
21. 151
(Typic Ustipsamments)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 6
22. 153
(Typic Haplustepts)
X-ray diffractograms of pedon 7
23. 156
(Typic Ustifluvents)