The document discusses different types of soil found in India. It begins by thanking those who helped with the soil project. It then provides information on soil formation and describes the major soil types in India - alluvial, black, red and yellow, laterite, forest/mountain, and arid soils. For each soil type, it discusses characteristics, location, and crops grown. In total, six major soil types are described that cover different percentages of India's total land area. The document concludes with information on soil erosion and conservation methods.

1. Soil

2. Acknowledgement
• I would like to express my special thanks to gratitude to my teacher Mr. N.S.
Sindhu as well as our principal Mrs. Ritu Dewan who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic ‘Soil’, which also helped me
in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am
really thankful to them. Secondly I would like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

3. Soil As A Resource
• Soil is the most important renewable natural resource and a living system which
supports many types of living organisms. It take millions of years to form soil up
to a few centimeter in depth.
• Factors like forces of nature (like wind, decomposers, water and glaciers), relief,
nature of bed rock, climate, vegetation, other forms of life's as well as time play a
very important role in the formation of soil.
• Chemical and organic changes happened in the soil are equally important. It
consist of both inorganic and organic materials (i.e. humus). Soils in India are
classified into different types on the basis of chemical and physical factors like
color, thickness, texture, age etc.

4. Soil Profile Diagram

5. Classification Of Soil
• Soils in India can be classified into various types given below:
1. Alluvial Soil
2. Black soil
3. Red and Yellow Soil
4. Laterite Soil
5. Forest And Mountain Soil
6. Arid Soil

6. Pie Chart showing the Soil distribution in India
Alluvial Soil
50%
Black Soil
17%
Red And Yellow Soil
12%
Laterite Soil
8%
Forest Or Mountain Soil
9%
Arid Soil
4%
% Occupied by Soil of India's Total Geographical Area
Alluvial Soil Black Soil Red And Yellow Soil Laterite Soil Forest Or Mountain Soil Arid Soil

7. Alluvial Soil
• This is the most widespread soil in India, which has been deposited by three
important Himalayan river system – the Indus, the Ganges and the
Brahmaputra, covering about 45.6% of the area.
• It is made up of slit, sand and clay rich in nutrients like Potash, Phosphoric Acid
and Lime, which are suitable for growing paddy, wheat, sugarcane, and other
cereals and pulse crop.

8. Some features of Alluvial Soil
• Due to its high fertility, areas having this soil are intensively cultivated and densely
populated.
• This soil is prevalent in river valleys of the Northern plain(Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra),
strips in Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as in Eastern coastal plains in the deltas of rivers of the
Peninsular Plateau(Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri).
• These soil are more common in the piedmont plains or plains at the foothills such as Duars,
Chos and Terai.
• It is also known as transported soil, as the soil has been transported by the rivers to its current
location. In contrast, sedimentary soils develop near their original location.
• The particles of this soil are bigger and coarser in the upper reaches of the rivers and become
finer as the river flows down.
• It can also be described on the basis of age. The older alluvial soil, further away from the rivers,
is known as Banger, whereas the newer soil near the river is known as Khader. This is
lighter in color, has finer particles and is more fertile than Bangar soil.
• Alluvial soil in the drier areas are more alkaline and can be productive after proper treatment
and irrigation.

9. Black Soil
• This is also known as Black Cotton Soil or regur soil. It covers 16% of India’s
total geographical area.
• This type of soil is rich in nutrients like Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium
Carbonate, Potash and Lime, but is poor in Phosphoric content. It is black in
color and best for growing the cotton crop.

10. Some features of Black Soil
• It has been formed by climatic conditions and the parent rock material.
• It is found in the Deccan Trap(Basalt) region and it is made up of lava flows.
• This soil covers the plateau areas of Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Malwa, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and also lies along the valleys of the Godavari and
Krishna rivers.
• Black soils are made up of extremely fine i.e. clayey material.
• It develops deep cracks during the hot summer, which helps in aeration of the
soil, but becomes sticky when wet and becomes difficult to be tilted.
• It needs to be tilted just after the first rain or immediately before.

11. Red and Yellow Soil
• It covers 10.6% of India’s total geographical area.
• The red color of this type of soil is due to diffusion of iron particles into
crystalline and metamorphic rocks in low rainfall areas of the Deccan Plateau.
• Where it is found in hydrated form, it turns yellow.
• It is thus found in parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and the Chota Nagpur plateau areas of
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

12. Laterite Soil
• The word laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘later’ which means
‘brick’. It covers about 7.2% of India’s total geographical areas. It develops in
areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall, resulting in intense leaching due
to heavy rain.
• This soil has low humus content due to the microorganisms getting destroyed
due to high temperature.
• It can be made cultivable with adequate amounts of manure and chemical
fertilizers.
• It is useful for growing coffee, tea, cashew, tapioca and cinchona.
• These soil are found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh and hilly areas of Odisha and Assam etc.

13. Laterite Soil

14. Forest Or Mountain Soil
• It covers 8% of India’s total geographical area. It is found in hilly and
mountainous areas of the country where sufficient forests are available.
• Its texture varies with the mountain environment where it is formed.
• They are loamy and silty in valley sides and coarse grained in the upper slopes.
• In the snow covered area of Himalayas due to denudation, soils are acidic with
low humus content.
• This soil is useful for cultivating spices, tea, coffee and tropical fruits.
• It is found in lower parts of valleys particularly on the river terraces and in the
hilly regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and
Arunachal Pradesh.

15. Mountain Soil

16. Arid Soils
• This soil covers about 4% of India’s total geographical area. It is sandy in texture,
saline in nature and red to brown in color.
• It lacks humus and moisture due to dry climate, high temperature and faster rate of
evaporation.
• In some areas common salt obtained in this soil due to evaporation of water.
• It can be useful for cultivation only with suitable irrigation methods and is useful for
growing barley, wheat, cotton, maize, millets and pulses.
• This soil is found in Western parts of Rajasthan, Northern Gujarat and Southern
parts of Haryana.
• In the lower horizons of the soil, Kankar are found due to increasing Calcium content
downwards which restrict the infiltration of water.
• After proper irrigation, these soils can become cultivable as in the case of
Ganganagar district of Western Rajasthan.

17. Arid(Desert) Soil

18. Map of Soil in India.

19. Soil Erosion and Soil Conservation
• The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is describe as
soil erosion.
• The process of soil formation and soil erosion go on simultaneously and
generally there is a balance between the two. Sometimes, this balance is
disturbed due to human causes like deforestation, over-grazing, construction
and mining etc.
• There are two main causes of deforestation:
1. Natural Causes
2. Human Causes

20. Natural Causes of Soil Erosion
• Erosion through wind, glacier and water are natural causes. Wind erosion occurs
due to wind blowing off the loose soil in the top layer, unless it is held down by
binding agents like trees, bushes etc.
• This can be reduced by methods of strip and planting of shelter belts of trees in
arid and semi-arid regions
• Strip Cropping : Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of grass are left
to grow between the crops. This breaks up the force of the wind. This method is
known as strip cropping.
• Shelter Belts: Planting lines of trees to create shelter also works as similar as
strip cropping works. Rows of such trees are called shelter belts.

21. Human Causes of Soil Erosion
• Deforestation, overgrazing, and faulty methods of agriculture are human actions
which cause soil erosion. Indiscrimination cutting of trees to increase area under
cultivation has caused large-scale damage to soil in the Shiwalik range, parts of
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
• Overgrazing has taken place in hilly regions of Jammu Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh and the drier areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Karnataka. Soil Conservation in hilly areas is done by contour ploughing and
Terrance farming.

22. Thank You!!!
Submitted By:
Ashutosh Tyagi
Class: X-C