Summary on Soil Profile of India

Soil is the mixture of mineral and organic components which are the basis of plants growth. It is formed from breakdown of parent rocks or physical and chemical changes of parent rocks.

Here, we are giving a detailed summary of Soil Profile of India which is very useful in the preparation of competitive examinations like UPSC-prelims, SSC, State Services, NDA, CDS, and Railways etc.

Natural Vegetation of India

Alluvial Soil

1. It is formed by sediments brought down by rivers.
2. It is also known as ‘riverine soil’ as it is found mainly on river basins
3. It is mixture of sand, clay and silt which is called as loam.
4. Khadar alluvial soil is the new layers deposit year after year during monsoon.
5. Bangar alluvial soil is the older alluviam and composed of lime nodules (kanker)
6. Favourable for crops: Rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, gram and oilseeds. It is also useful for jute cultivation in the lower Ganga Brahmaputra Valley.
7. It is founded in: Inland Plains of Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar West Bengal, some parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and Assam.

Black Soil

1. It is formed at their place of origin, covers underlying rocks.
2. Founded in: Deccan lava tracts which includes part of Maharashtra, MP,, Gujarat, AP, Karnataka, Rajasthan, UP, Part of Tamil Nadu
3. Characteristics: Fine texture and clayey; high qualities of lime, iron and magnesium, low quantities of phosphorous, nitrogen and organic matter; Shrink and cracks in the dry season to help in air circulation.
4. Cotton is the main crops. Cereals, jowar, oilseed, tobacco, sugarcane, wheat, vegetables grams.

Red Soil

1. Develops on old crystalline rocks.
2. Under rainfall, crystalline and metamorphic rocks form this soil.
3. It contains a lot of iron oxide which makes it appear brown or grey.
4. Founded in: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and South –east Maharashtra, parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bundelkhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.
5. Characteristics: Porous, high percent of iron oxide, generally shallow, contains small quantities of soluble soil, poor in nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and humus.
6. Suitable for almost all crop types especially vegetables, rice, ragi, tobacco, ground nut and potatoes.

Laterite Soil

1. Formed due to weathering of rocks under high temperature and rainfall with alternative wet and dry period. It also formed by leaching (process of nutrients getting percolated down due to heavy rainfall.)
2. Founded in: Highland areas of peninsular plateau especially summit of Sahyadris, Eastern Ghats, Rajmahal Hills and eastern parts of peninsula.
3. Characteristics: Low fertile due to high acidity and low moisture retention. Also due to leaching manuring can make them suitable for ragi, rice, sugarcane, paddy on lower elevation. Tea, cinchona, rubber, coffee on higher elevations.

List of Bio-geographic Zones and Bio-geographic Provinces of India