Indian soils come in 6 main types - alluvial, laterite, red, black, mountain, and desert soils. Alluvial soils are fertile soils deposited by river sediments. Laterite soils are found in southern India and are rich in iron oxides but less fertile. Red soils develop in low rainfall areas on granite and are moderately fertile. Black soils are very fertile but sticky clay soils found in central India. Mountain soils are humus-rich but low in nutrients. Desert soils are sandy, drain well but lack nutrients and blow away easily. The type of soil depends on climate, vegetation and underlying rock in each region and influences what crops can be grown.

2. .OUR PRIME AND NATURAL RESOURCE
ON EARTH.
.INDIAN SOILS– 6 DIFFERENT TYPES
.DIFFER IN COMPOSITION AND
STRUCTURE.
SOIL

4. SOILS IN INDIA
• Valuable resource of India
• .Indian agriculture depends upon the extent and
qualities of soil.
• Weathering prepares loose materials on the
surface of the Earth and mixed with decayed
organic matters it forms soil.
 India witnesses diverse range of climatic and other
natural conditions.
 Climate, natural vegetation and rocks all influence
the nature of soil in a place

5. ALLUVIAL SOIL

6. •PECULIARITIES
 Formed by deposition of fine silt sediments (alluvium)
by rivers
 Old alluvium (khadar) and new alluvium (bangar)
 Contains potash, phosphoric acid and lime.
 Rich in humus and hence fertile
 Found in Great Northern Plains, lower valleys
of rivers Narmada andTapti and in Northern Gujarat.
 Good for growth of sugarcane,rice, wheat
and pulses

7. LATERITE SOIL

8. PECULIARITIES
 Formed due to intense leaching and
weathering of parent rocks
 Rich in iron oxide hence rusty red in colour
and not much fertile.
 Commonly found in Kerala,Tamil Nadu,
 Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and hilly areas of
Orissa and Assam.
 Some plants like tea, coffee, coconut, areca
nut, etc. can be grown .

9. RED SOIL

10. PECULIARITIES
 Develop on granite and geneses rocks under low rainfall
condition.
 Dissemination of red oxides of iron gives the characteristic
red color .
 Friable and medium fertile
 Found mainly in almost whole ofTamil Nadu, South-
eastern Karnataka, North-eastern and South-eastern
Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand the major parts of Orissa, and
the Hills and Plateaus of North-east India.
 Good growth of crops after taking help of irrigation and
fertilizers.
 Wheat, rice, millets, gram, pulses, oil-seeds and cotton are
cultivated.

11. BLACK SOIL

12. PECULIARITIES
 Developed extensively upon the Lava Plateaus of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh mainly
Malwa.
 Clayey and very sticky when wet.
 High water holding capacity and fertile.
 Have high percentage of lime and a moderate
amount of potash.
 Well suited for cultivation of cotton , hence
called ‘black cotton soil.
 Sugarcane, wheat, and groundnut are
cultivated

13. MOUNTAIN SOIL

14. PECULIARITIES
 Rich in humus but poor in potash and lime
 Found in mountains and hill tops .
 Seen in Jammu and Kashmir, U.P.,West Bengal
in the Himalayan tracts.
 The Himalayas, the North-eastern Hills,
mountains and hills in India show a variety of
soils.

15.  In the drier areas of deciduous forest belt,
brown soils are found, rich in humus and deep
and good for orchard crops.
 In coniferous forest belts in Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Sikkim, etc., brown forest soils called Podzol
are good for growing maize, barley, wheat
and fruits.
 In the Alpine Zone of the Himalayas lie Alpine
Meadow soils.

16. DESERT SOIL

17. PECULIARITIES
 Gritty and sandy.
 Drains well but does not contain so many nutrients
 Shift and blow away with the wind as it is very light
 Found in Rajasthan, Haryana and the South Punjab
areas.
 Become saline and rather unfit for cultivation in the
absence of rain.
 Cultivation can be carried on with the help of
modern irrigation.
 Wheat, bajra, groundnut, etc. can be grown.

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