Soil Fertility and Nutrient management (1+1)

Characteristics of Sodic soils

• There will not be any natural vegetation except some very hardy grasses.
• When wet, alkali soils turn black because of the humic acid fraction of organic matter, which is dissolved by Na2CO3 at high pH.
• They are very slippery and soft when wet but very hard when dry.
• Upon drying deep cracks, 1-2 cm wide develops in the soil which closes when wetted.
• The surface soil develops a hard crust with typical convex surfaces.
• Water movement is restricted due to the sealing effect of Na- clays. A few centimeters below the surface may therefore be almost saturated with water while the surface is dry & vice versa.
• Runoff water is always turbid because of the bad physical conditions.
• Clay pan formation or kankar pan formation at variable depths.