SOIL - An Introduction

1. Soil is the natural and a vital resource for growing food, fibre and firewood to meet the human needs.
2. The soils are highly vulnerable to degradation and nature takes very long period (say 300 – 1000 years) to form an inch of the top soil mainly due to the combined effects of climate, vegetation, organisms, relief and time on the rocks and parent material.
3. Soil is a life supporting system upon which human beings have been dependent from the dawn of the civilization.
4. The soil performs many functions such as media for biomass production, filtering and buffering, a habitat and gene reservoir, a source of raw materials, a substrate for buildings, roads and other structures and as an archaeological artifact.
5. Impairment in any function of soils reduces their quality, value and capacity to provide the basic necessities to support ecosystems. Hence, comprehensive information on soil resources in terms of types of soils, their spatial distribution, extent, their limitations viz., erosion, salinization / alkalization, water logging etc., and their potential / capabilities, is required for a variety of purposes such as command area development, soil conservation in catchment areas, rainfed farming, watershed management and reclamation of degraded lands. Such information also plays an important role in
   non-agricultural sectors like, construction of roadways, railways, dams and engineering structures, etc.
6. Management of soil resources is essential for continued agricultural productivity and protection of the environment.