Organic matter and properties of soil in forest and agriculture areas

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the major components of soil. It includes plants, animals, and microbial residue in all stages of decomposition. SOC determines the quality, growth, and productivity of the soil. Different studies have shown that the amount of soil organic matter is found higher in forest land than in agricultural land. The study aims to quantify the amount of soil organic matter and also determine the other related soil properties of forest and agricultural land soils. Hence, the forest and agricultural land of Sandhikharka Municipality, Arghakhanchi is selected as the study area. The present research is based on random systematic sampling. The samples were collected from the forest and agricultural land. 10 samples were collected from each land use. The percentage of soil organic carbon was determined by Walkey and Black Method. For the calculation of soil, the organic matter percentage of soil organic carbon was multiplied by 1.724. Bulk Density was calculated by the core sampler method. The soil organic matter of forest land was found to be greater than agricultural land. Soil organic matter decreased with an increase in temperature. Bulk density was found higher in agricultural land soil than in forest soil. Bulk density shows a positive response to the increasing soil depth. Soil organic matter (SOM) is found higher in forest soil than in agricultural land and bulk density decreases with the increase in SOM.