 |
AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
|
 |
SOILS
The soils in the district are derived from the Deccan trap and are well-known for their fertility. The northern half of the district, the central part of Washim tahsil and north-western part of Mangrulpir tahsil have good black soils. On the other-hand, the soils on the plateau are shallow with murum substratum. In Murtizapur tahsil a large portion of the country is under very rich black soil. However, the soils in the hilly tracts of the southern as well as the eastern marginal belts of the district, and also in the north-eastern portion are less productive, shallow and stormy. About three-quarters of Balapur tahsil have a deep black soil cover. The northern half of the Mangrulpir tahsil consists of an undulating table land with a medium to rich black soil cover having very variable depth. The most fertile soils of the district are the rich soils of the Purna valley proper. Akola tahsil also possesses some black soil, though to the east of the Katepurna river the tract is stony. The central portion of Washim tahsil has black soil.
The description of a few profiles is given in the following table.
TABLE No. 1
Description of some sample profiles in Akola district |
Place |
Phase |
Depth in Centimetres |
Remarks |
Washim |
Shallow |
0 —22.5 |
Dark brown clay, blocky, hard and few lime nodules and sand arc found. Below 22.5 disintegrated murum is found. |
|
Washim |
Medium deep |
0 —22.5 |
Grey brown
clay, blocky, hard and full of sand particles and few lime nodules arc found. |
22.5-37.5 |
The same features as above are seen |
37.5 |
Below 37.5 murum is found. |
|
Washim |
Deep |
0
—22.5 | Dark brown clay, blocky, hard sand particles and few lime nodules are found. |
22.5-37.5 |
The same as above. |
37.5-70.0 |
Very dark grey brown
clay and blocky | |
70.0 |
Below 70.0 murum is found. |
|
Rilod |
Very deep |
0
—27.5 | Grey brown clay, blocky, slightly hard, full of sand particles and few lime nodules are found. |
|
27.5-55.0 |
Colour and texture same as above and columnor. |
|
55.0-92.5 |
The same as above, but little moist. |
|
92.5-135.0 |
The same as above, but more moist. |
In general, the soils in the district are slightly alkaline in reaction. Alkalinity increases with depth in the case of deep soils. They are clayey in texture and contain sufficient free calcium carbonate. They are base saturated, divalent ions constituting more than 90 per cent of the total exchangeable bases. The soils are well supplied with nitrogen but the medium to poor in available phosphate and available potash.
An analytical data of a few typical soil profiles is given in the following table.
TABLE No. 2
An analytical data of Soil Profiles in Akola District
|
Phase and Depth in centimetres |
PH |
Per Cent |
Exchangeable m. c. Per Cent |
Total |
Available Percent |
|
T.S.S. |
Silt |
clay |
CaCo3 |
Ca. |
Mg. |
Na +K |
N Per Cent |
P2O5 |
K2O | |
Shallow | |
0-22. 5 |
8.6 |
0.25 |
29 |
52 |
3.1 |
46 |
5 |
0.5 |
0.04 7 |
14 |
24 |
Medium deep |
|
0-22.5 |
8.2 |
0.26 |
28 |
54 |
2.7 |
51 |
7 |
0.5 |
0.077 |
10 |
24 |
22.5-37.5 |
8.1 |
0.27 |
26 |
57 |
3.6 |
49 |
6 |
0.5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Deep |
|
0-22.5 |
8.4 |
0.27 |
17 |
66 |
3.7 |
56 |
6 |
1.0 |
0.064 |
8 |
22 |
22.5-37.5 |
8.4 |
0.29 |
20 |
61 |
3.7 |
54 |
7 |
1.0 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
37.5-70.0 |
8.0 |
0.30 |
* |
* |
* |
51 |
8 |
1.5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Very deep |
|
0-27.5 |
8.6 |
0.31 |
24 |
46 |
3.5 |
41 |
8 |
2.0 |
0.049 |
10 |
22 |
27.5-55.0 |
8.6 |
0.20 |
18 |
49 |
3.5 |
40 |
8 |
2.5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
55.0-92.5 |
8.8 |
0.22 |
19 |
52 |
3.4 |
38 |
7 |
5.0 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
92.5-135.0 |
9.0 |
0.22 |
11 |
54 |
3.4 |
30 |
3 |
5.0 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
* Not determined.
|
