This PSEB 8th Class Agriculture Notes Chapter 1 Soil and Soil Management will help you in revision during exams.
PSEB 8th Class Agriculture Notes Chapter 1 Soil and Soil Management
→ Soil means an upper layer of earth in which plant roots grow and plants take water and other nutrients from it.
→ Soil provides physical strength to the plants.
→ According to soil scientists, the soil is a dynamic natural body that has developed under the effect of natural forces.
→ Soil is a living thing according to scientists, it contains many microbes, it provides nutrients to plants.
→ Basic constituents of soil – 45% minerals, 25% air, 25% water, 0 to 5% of organic matter. Water, air, and water content can vary.
→ Soil has two types of properties-Chemical and Physical properties.
→ Main Physical Properties of soil-size of soil particles, pore size, and water holding capacity, etc.
→ When sandy soil is rubbed between thumb and finger it feels gritty.
→ Clayey soil has 40% of clay particles.
→ Loamy soil has characteristics between sandy and clayey soil.
→ In areas with high rainfall, soils are found to be acidic.
→ If pH is less than 7 then the soil is acidic.
→ Salt-affected soils are of three types.
→ Salt affected soils are saline, alkali, saline-alkali soils.
→ For improvement of sandy soil – green manure, farmyard manure, leguminous crops are incorporated.
→ Clayey soils are most suited for paddy sowing.
→ Acidic soils are reclaimed by adding lime to them.
→ Reclamation of Saline soil can be done by flooding and ploughing or by scrapping the top layer by using a leveler (Karaha).
→ For reclamation of alkali soils, use gypsum after getting tested on the soil and water.
→ The water table is high in waterlogged soils that it reaches upto the roots of the plants.
→ If a water table is found at a level of 0 to 1.5 m below the surface of the earth it is called waterlogged soil.