Soil related constraints in crop production and their management options in North Western Himalayas

SANJAY ARORA and R.D. GUPTA Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, S. K. University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chatha, Jammu -180 009 (J&K), India

Like other Himalayan areas, the North Western Himalayan region is highly degraded. Out of the total geographical area of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand about 31, 75 and 72 per cent is under degraded conditions, respectively. The major soil constraints occurring in North West Himalayan soils are land degradation, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, soil acidity resulting into deficiency of available nutrients and occurrence of salinity and alkalinity to some extent in certain areas. The fertilizer use is also limited in the soils of this Himalayan tract. Moreover, the limited use of fertilizers is being made indiscriminately. This can be conjectured by deciphering the ratio of N, P and K fertilizers consumption. In Jammu region, NPK ratio is 66.5: 18: 1 and in Kashmir region, it is 21.2: 7.5: 1 against an ideal ratio of 4: 2: 1. Due to all these factors, the crop production suffers badly. In this paper, therefore, aforesaid soil related crop production constraints have been narrated briefly along-with management practices or control measures. In this paper, various soil related constraints in crop production have been elucidated pertaining to North-Western Himalayan soils, along with their control measures. Soil erosion, soil acidity, alkalinity in terms of salinity and sodicity, as well as fragmentation of land holdings have been found to be the main constraints in crop productions under such soil conditions. Soil erosion is the main factor that is responsible for the degradation of the arable land in terms of its physical, chemical and biological respects. To control this constraint, one has to follow all the soil and water conservation measures like agronomic, mechanical or engineering and biological. Similarly, to control the acidity and sodicity, the farmers must be advocated to use amendments like lime and gypsum. In calcareous soils, whatever quantity of organic manures is available must be added to overcome this constraint.