Black soil

1. SOILS IN INDIA

2. Introduction Soil is the uppermost layer of Earth’s crust. Soil is the medium in which plants grow and thus it supports the lives on earth . Soils are formed due to the weathering of rocks.

3. Black Soil Black soils are mainly found over the Deccan lava tract (Deccan Trap) including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. These soils are found in river valley of Narmada, Tapi, Godavari and Krishna.

4. BLACK SOIL IS :- Clayey, deep They swell and become sticky when wet and shrink when dried During dry season, these soils develop wide cracks. Rich in lime and iron, magnesia and alumina Also contain potash Lack phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter Colour of the soil ranges from deep black of grey .

5. CHARACTERISTICS: Fine textured and clayey in nature . Has high qualities of lime, iron, magnesium, and generally poor percentage of phosphorous, nitrogen and organic matter .

6. CROPS: Cotton cultivation Suitable for growing cereals, rice, wheat, jowar, oilseeds, citrus fruits and vegetables, tobacco and sugarcane. Their moisture –retentiveness makes them suitable for dry farming.

7. BLACK SOIL (SUMMARY) Black soil is made from lava-solidified rocks and is also called as ‘Black Cotton Soil’ or ‘Regur Soil’. The black colour of regur soil is due to its iron content, deriving from plutonic lava materials. Mainly found in the Deccan region which includes the major part of Maharashtra, Gujarat and part of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Cotton is most important crop

8. Chernozem Chernozem   " black dirt " or " black earth ", is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus .  (7% to 15%), and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. [ ernozem is very fertile and produces a high agricultural yield.

9. DISTRIBUTION From eastern Croatia  along the Danube northeast Ukraine across the Black Earth Region and southern Russia into Siberia, and the other in the Canadian Prairies. Similar soil types occur in Texas and Hungary. Chernozem layer thickness may vary widely, from several inches up to 60 inches (1.5 meters) in Ukraine.

10. VERTISOLS A Vertisols  is a soil in which there is a high content of expansive clay ,  that forms deep cracks in drier seasons or years. Alternate shrinking and swelling causes  self-mulching , where the soil material consistently mixes itself, causing vertisols to have an extremely deep A horizon and no B horizon.

11. TERRA PRETA Terra preta   , literally "black earth" or "black land“ is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil. It is very stable and remains in the soil for thousands of years. It is also known as  "Amazonian dark earth"  or  "Indian black earth" .

12. Formation and composition Black soil is formed by the decomposition of lava rocks. Hence this type of soil is mostly found in the volcanic regions. It is usually found away from the coastal areas and is most suitable for growing cotton. Black soil is composed from red soil in long period of time. minerals and organic decayed mix with red soil and it became black and more fertile