The Soils of Sri Lanka

142 Pages·2020·14.834 MB·English

by  Ranjith B. Mapa

World Soils Book Series
Ranjith B. Mapa   Editor
The Soils of Sri
Lanka
World Soils Book Series
Series Editor
Alfred E. Hartemink
Department of Soil Science, FD Hole Soils Laboratory
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, WI
USA
The World Soils Book Series publishes peer-reviewed books on the soils of a particular
country. They include sections on soil research history, climate, geology, geomorphology,
major soil types, soil maps, soil properties, soil classification, soil fertility, land use and
vegetation, soil management, soils and humans, soils and industry, future soil issues. The
bookssummarizewhatisknownaboutthesoilsinaparticularcountryinaconciseandhighly
reader-friendly way. The series contains both single and multi-authored books as well as
edited volumes. There is additional scope for regional studies within the series, particularly
when covering large land masses (for example, The Soils of Texas, The Soils of California),
however, these will be assessed on an individual basis.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8915
Ranjith B. Mapa
Editor
The Soils of Sri Lanka
123
Editor
Ranjith B. Mapa
Peradeniya,Sri Lanka
ISSN 2211-1255 ISSN 2211-1263 (electronic)
World Soils BookSeries
ISBN978-3-030-44142-5 ISBN978-3-030-44144-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44144-9
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This book is dedicated to Vidya Jothi Dr. C.R. Panabokke,the eminent Soil
Scientists who worked tirelessly on exploring the knowledge on Soils of
Sri Lanka
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to individual authors and following organizations who have kindly given
permission for the reproduction of copyright material (figure number in parentheses).
Natural Resource Management Center (NRMC), Department of Agriculture, Peradeniya
(Figs. 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 5.5, 6.1, 7.1, and 8.1),
Soil Science Society of Sri Lanka (Figs. 1.2, 1.4, 5.6, and 5.15),
National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (Fig. 5.3),
Tropical Agriculture Research (Figs. 5.4 and 5.5).
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About This Book
Over 20 million people live in Sri Lanka and more than 50% of them are involved in
agriculture on a full or part-time basis. Agriculture is a part and parcel of the rural people
ofthecountry.Withtheincreasingpopulation,thepercapitaarablelandareahaddecreasedto
0.14 ha which will reduce further in the future due to population increase and land degra-
dation. The country’s economy, cleanliness of water resources, and the health of people
depend on the sustainable management of the soil resource. This book compiles the current
information on the diversity of soils of Sri Lanka and associated information on climate as a
soil-forming factor, geology and geomorphology, soil mineralogy, and soil degradation.
Finally, it highlights the possible future environmental soil issues.
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Contents
1 Soil Research and Soil Mapping History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ranjith B. Mapa
2 Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B. V. R. Punyawardena
3 Geology and Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Rohana Chandrajith
4 Soil Mineralogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
S. P. Indraratne
5 Major Soils of the Dry Zone and Their Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
A. R. Dassanayake, G. G. R. De Silva, and Ranjith B. Mapa
6 Major Soils of the Intermediate Soils and Their Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . 69
A. R. Dassanayake, L. L. W. Somasiri, and Ranjith. B. Mapa
7 Major Soils of the Wet Zone and Their Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
A. R. Dassanayake, A. Senarath, L. S. K. Hettiarachchi, and Ranjith B. Mapa
8 Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Ranjith B. Mapa
9 Soil Degradation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
H. B. Nayakekorale
10 Environmental Soil Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Ranjith B. Mapa
Index ... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 125
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Contributors
Rohana Chandrajith Senior Professor in Geology, Department of Geology, Faculty of
Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
A. R. Dassanayake Former Specialist Officer, Land use Division, Irrigation Department,
Colombo, Sri Lanka
G. G. R. De Silva Former Specialist Officer, Land use Division, Irrigation Department,
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
L. S. K. Hettiarachchi Director, Tea Research Institute, Talawakele, Sri Lanka
S. P. Indraratne Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, University of Win-
nipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Ranjith. B. Mapa Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science,
University of Peredeniya, Peredeniya, Sri Lanka
H.B.Nayakekorale FormerDirector,NaturalResourceManagementCenter,Departmentof
Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
B. V. R. Punyawardena Director, Natural Resource Management Center, Department of
Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
A. Senarath Former Specialist Officer, Land use Division, Irrigation Department, Colombo,
Sri Lanka
L. L. W. Somasiri Former Deputy Director (Research), Coconut Research Institute, Lunu-
wila, Sri Lanka
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