Suitability of red and lateritic soil landscapes for fruit crops.
Pandey R. M., Palaniappan R., Raja M. E.
Author Affiliation: Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore 560 089, India.
: 191-201
Abstract : Red and lateritic soils are one of the most horticulturally important soil groups of India occupying 107 million ha, approximately one third of the cultivated area of the country. The prominent tropical and subtropical fruit crops grown on these soils are mango, citrus, banana, guava, papaya, grapes, pineapple, litchi and jackfruit. A soil is suitable for fruit crops only if it has adequate depth, open texture and free drainage. Further, it should be acid to neutral in pH, and free from limitations, like salinity, stoniness, hardpans and waterlogging. The red and lateritic soils meet these requirements adequately. The physical characters of these soils show a wide variation, with texture ranging from sandy loam to silty clay and depth ranging from moderately deep (30 cm) to very deep (> 200 cm). Effective depth of soil influences moisture storage. Citrus decline in orchards of northern India has been attributed to high soil pH, excess salts, defective drainage, presence of hardpan, and presence of free lime; these conditions are absent in red and lateritic soils, which are ideally suited for citrus cultivation. The majority of red and lateritic soils are formed from acid igneous rocks under heavy rainfall and hence their pH ranges from 4.5 to 6.5 which is ideally suited for crops like pineapple, extensively cultivated in Kerala and the northeastern states. Though red and lateritic soils have adequate depth and good physical properties, they have certain inherent limitations, like poor native fertility (resulting in zinc deficiency in grape), low base status, high active acidity and exchangeable aluminium, and excessive leaching of nutrients. But these constraints can be effectively overcome by scientific management, use of suitable fertilizer and amendments. The high erodibility and leaching of nutrients from these soils can be overcome by adopting certain soil conservation practices and horti-silvipastoral systems.