Assessment of physical properties of soil under different land use systems in a Mollisol

Abstract

Present study was undertaken to assess the physical properties of soil under different land use systems in Mollisol at Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre, G. B. Pant University, Pantnagar. Land use systems were rice–wheat–green gram, rice–pea(vegetable)-maize, rice-potato –okra, rice–berseem + oat + mustard(fodder)-maize + cowpea(fodder), maize–wheat–cowpea, sorghum(fodder)-yellow sarson-black gram, guava + lemon, poplar + turmeric, eucalyptus + turmeric and fallow(uncultivated land). Soil samples were taken from 0-20cm depth and analyzed for the various physical properties. Studies revealed that clay content varied from 25.16 to 30.16, silt content ranged from 19.99 to 25.72 and sand content varied from 49.02 to 49.84. Bulk density ranged from 1.29 to 1.43 g cm-3, particle density varied from 2.55 to 2.74 g cm-3 whereas porosity ranged from 47.62 to 49.71 percent. Water holding capacity varied from 41.56 to 61.82 percent. Results indicated that soil under agroforestry based systems was found superior with respect to soil physical environment followed by field crops, horticultural crops and the uncultivated land.