Soil Properties under Different Land Use Systems in Karimganj District of Assam, India

Abstract

Geo-referenced composite soil samples were collected from twelve different land use systems (LUS) of the Karimganj district of Assam. The results revealed a wide textural variation ranging from silt loam to clayey in the studied soils. Bulk density was significantly higher (1.48 Mg m-3 ) in uncultivated LUS and lowest (1.20 Mg m-3 ) recorded in forest. Porosity of soils ranged from 39.9% to 52.1%. pH of the soils was found to be very strongly to moderately acidic (4.81-5.78) where tea soils was recorded for significantly lowest value of pH (4.81). The organic carbon of soils was found medium to high in all LUS. Similar observation was recorded in total organic carbon. CEC of the soils ranged from 7.8 to 10.8 cmol (p+)kg-1 and found to be mostly regulated by clay fraction of the soils. The percent base saturation of the soils in most of the LUS varied from 30 to 40%.