TYPES OF SOIL FOUND IN INDIA
Indian soils are generally divided into four broad types. These soil
types are: 1) alluvial soils; 2) regur soils; 3) red soils and 4)
laterite soils.
ALLUVIAL SOILS: This
is the most important and widespread category. It covers 40% of
the land area. In fact the entire Northern Plains are made up of
these soils. They have been brought down and deposited by three
great Himalayan rivers- Sutlej, Ganga and Brahmaputra- and their
tributaries. Through a narrow corridor in Rajasthan they extend
into the plains of Gujarat. They are common in eastern coastal plains
and in the deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
REGUR SOILS: These
soils are black in colour and are also known as black soils. Since,
they are ideal for growing cotton, they are also called cotton soils,
in addition to their normal nomenclature of regur soils. These soils
are most typical of the Deccan trap (Basalt) region spread over
north-west Deccan plateau and are made up of lava flows. They cover
the plateaus of Mahrashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa and southern Madhya
Pradesh and extends eastwards in the south along the Godavari and
Krishna Valleys.
RED SOILS: These soils are developed on old crystalline
rocks under moderate to heavy rainfall conditions. They are deficient
in phosphoric acid, organic matter and nitrogenous material. Red
soils cover the eastern part of the peninsular region comprising
Chhotanagpur plateau, Orissa, eastern Madhya Pradesh, Telangana,
the Nilgiris and Tamil Nadu plateau. Tey extended northwards in
the west along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra.
LATERITE SOILS: The
laterite soils is the result of intense leaching owing to heavy
tropical rains. They are found along the edge of plateau in the
east covering small parts of Tamil Nadu, and Orissa and a small
part of Chhotanagpur in the north and Meghalaya in the north-east.
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