soil health management

1. Soil Health Management under
high value vegetable crops
Aamir Hassan Mir
SKUAST-K

2. What is Soil
Soil is an important natural resource for crop
production.
A mixture of mineral and organic matter that
is capable of supporting plant life.
It is the top layer of the earth’s surface and is
made up of disintegrated rocks, minerals,
organic matter and bacteria. Soils are
varying in nature and they are classified to
several types based on the characteristics.

3. What is Soil Health
Capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem
boundaries to sustain biological productivity,
maintain environmental quality and promote plant
and animal health.
In the context of agriculture, it may refer to its ability
to sustain productivity.
A healthy soil would ensure proper retention and
release of water and nutrients, promote and sustain
root growth, maintain soil biotic habitat, respond to
management and resist degradation

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEALTHY SOIL
• Good soil tilth
• Sufficient depth
• Sufficient but not an excessive supply of nutrients
• Small populations of plant pathogens and insect
pests
• Good soil drainage
• Large populations of beneficial organisms
• Low weed pressure
• No chemicals or toxins that may harm the crop
• Resistance to degradation
• Resilience when unfavorable conditions occur

5. Physical
Water Characteristics
Compaction
Soil Structure
Chemical
Salts
Sodium
pH
Nutrients
Biological
Insects
Microbes
Plants
Biological Activity
Organic Matter
Basic Factors of soil Health

6. Basic Principles of soil fertility
• Soil organic matter
levels
• Biological activity
• Minimal or no erosion
• Proper soil pH
• A balance of nutrients
Living
organisms
15%
Well decomposed
residues
55–75%
Fresh and
decomposing
residues< 30%
Composition of soil organic matter.

7. ISSUES RELATING TO SOIL HEALTH
• Lack of good soil testing facilities and neglect of organic
manures
• Deficiency of not only NPK but also of secondary
nutrients (S, Ca and Mg) and micro nutrients (B, Zinc,
Mn, Mo, C and Fe etc.)
• Deviation from ideal NPK Ratio
• Decreasing organic Carbon content and biological health
of soil
• Need for soil amendments in acidic and alkaline soil is
getting accentuated
• 40% area in 130 districts have Sulphur deficiency, Zn
very common, Boron thereafter

8. Soils of Ladakh Region
General Characteristics:
a. Mostly sandy in texture
b. Low water holding capacity
c. Low organic carbon
d. Low bio degradability- decomposition
e. Soils are of recent origin
f. Low vegetative cover-prone to erosion
g. Undulated land
h. Aridity in environment

9. General soil Physico-chemical
status of ladakh
S.No Location Depth Sand Silt Clay Texture
class
1 Leh 0-15 87.2 3032 9.36 LS
2 Nobra 0-15 87.2 3016 8.86 LS
3 Nyoma 0-15 87.2 7.08 9.67 LS
4 Khaltsi 0-15 87.5 7.03 5.46 LS
5 Durbug 0-15 86.5 6.20 7.25 LS

10. Chemical Analysis of soils of Ladakh
S.No Location Depth pH
(1:2.5)
EC
(dSm-1)
OC
%
Av. P
(kg/ha)
Av. K
(kg/ha)
1 Leh 0-15 8.24 0.20 0.98 15.7 301
2 Nobra 0-15 7.97 0.26 1.12 16.2 317
3 Nyoma 0-15 8.56 0.20 0.69 16.7 353
4 Khaltsi 0-15 8.46 0.07 0.90 15.5 318
5 Durbug 0-15 7.95 0.04 0.81 16.4 366

11. Micronutrient Status of Ladakh soils
(ppm)
S.No Location Zinc Copper Iron Mangnese
1 Leh 0.67 1.19 7.15 6.86
2 Nobra 2.56 0.71 10.59 10.26
3 Nyoma 0.91 0.80 6.50 9.86
4 Khaltsi 1.30 0.80 8.90 8.96
5 Durbug 1.09 0.88 9.96 12.80

12. Soil pH and Nutrients Availability

13. Soil Health Management practices
Farm management practices on soil
properties and processes can provide
useful indicators of economic and
environmental sustainability
Soil quality affects water movement through
the soil, nutrient availability to the plant
and thereby growth and over all
production.

14. Soil Sustainability
• Crop rotation
• Cultivation of leguminous crops
• Reduce soil erosion losses of top soil
• Use of bio-inoculants and bio fertilizers
• Mulching practices
• Green manuring
• Integrated nutrient management

15. Nutrient management
• determining the amount of nutrients
needed by the crop,
• accounting for all the potential sources of
nutrients,
• applying manures, composts, irrigation
water,
• or inorganic fertilizers to meet the nutrient
need of the crop.

16. Macronutrients Micronutrients
Nitrogen (N) Boron (B)
Phosphorus (P) Chloride (Cl)
Potassium (K) Copper (Cu)
Sulfur (S) Iron (Fe)
Calcium (Ca) Manganese
(Mn)
Magnesium
(Mg)
Molybdenum
(Mo)
Nickel (Ni)
Zinc (Zn)
The
macronutrients
are simply
needed in larger
amounts by the
plant than the
micronutrients.
Essential Nutrients for plant growth

17. Conclusion
Soil organic matter
Key component of sustainable soil management
Organic management can result in
fundamentally different soils
Microbial biomass
Disease suppressiveness
More efficient nutrient cycling
Look for opportunities to reduce tillage and
cultivation in organic rotations

18. Fill fallow periods with cover crops
Build N fertility
Increase SOM
Suppress weeds and diseases
Prevent nutrient losses
Monitor soils and amendments through
regular testing with state labs
On-farm and local sources of fertility likely to
be most economical and sustainable
Effective soil testing service to back up precise
fertilizer use.

19. Thank You