Denis Magnus Ken Amara^1*, Sheikh Dyphan Abass Massaquoi² and Parameshgouda L. Patil³    

1Department of Soil Science, School of Agriculture, Njala University, Njala Campus, Sierra Leone. 2Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Social Sciences, Njala University, Njala Campus, Sierra Leone. 3Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580005, Karnataka, India.  

*Corresponding author. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Tel: +23279905400, +23299463196.  

Received April, 2015; Accepted May, 2015  

 

The present study was undertaken to characterize soils in Singhanhalli-Bogur microwatershed located in the hot Semi-arid Agro-ecological region of India in the northern transition zone of Karnataka. Horizon-wise soil samples were collected from twenty pedon location and analysed for important physical and chemical properties. The study revealed that the distribution of soil separates varied with depth in most of the horizons whereas % coarse fragments increased with depth. The clay content was higher in the black soils than red soils. All pedons exhibited an irregular trend in silt content whereas surface horizons recorded higher sand content than sub-surface horizons. The bulk density increased with depth with black soils recording higher bulk densities than red soils. In addition, surface horizons recorded lower bulk densities that sub-surface horizons. The field capacity and water holding capacity of the black soils was higher than the red soils but however, the red soils showed higher porosities than the black soils. The pH was slightly acidic to alkaline and increased with depth. The soils were non-saline and all pedons exhibited an irregular trend in electrical conductivity. The organic carbon ranged from low to high whereas in most pedons the CaCO3 followed an irregular trend with the black soils showing higher CaCO3 content than the red soils. The distribution exchangeable bases on the exchange complex was in the order of Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+. The black soil pedons recorded higher CEC and per cent base saturation than the red soil pedons.   

 

Key words: Singhanhalli-Bogur, soil characterization, microwatershed, Karnataka, soil resource inventory.  

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