Soils of Kerala

Booklet No. 386 Soil Science: SSS - 27

Contents Preface I. Introduction II. Geographical Situation III. Physiography IV. Climate V. Soils VI. Problem Soils and Management VII. Irrigation and Cropping Pattern VIII. Soil Fertility Status IX. Fertilizer Recommendation for Important Crops X. Techniques for Efficient Fertilizer Use XI. Priorities for Future Preface Kerala experiences a pleasant weather throughout the year. The state is drained by many streams and rivers. Because of undulating topography, most of the areas have a good drainage system. Low variation in temperature allows the cultivation of wide variety of crops. The climate, different soils, problem soils and their management are some of the important aspects to be considered in order to improve the present soil fertility status by adopting suitable measures. Dr. K. T. Chandy, Agricultural & Environmental Education I. Introduction Kerala is a small state tucked away in the south west corner of india. It represents only 1.18% of the total area of our country with 3.43% of the total population. It is a land of rivers and backwaters. The backwaters form a specially attractive and economically valuable feature of Kerala. II. Geographical Situation The state is located between 818' -1228' north latitude and 7452' -7722' east longitude. It is bounded on the west by the Arabian sea on the north and north-east by the Karnataka state and on the east and south-east by Tamil Nadu. The area of the state is 3.88 m. ha and the land utilization pattern of the area is given in table 1. Table 1 : Land utilization pattern in Kerala Sl.No 1 2 3 Land use Total geographical area Reporting area for land utilization statistics Forests Area (m.ha) 3.88 3.88 1.0 Area (%) 25.8

4 5 6 7 8

Not available for cultivation Other uncultivated land excluding fallow land Fallow land Net area sown Area sown more than once Total cropped area

0.36 0.19 0.08 2.17 0.73 2.9

9.3 4.8 2.1 55.9 18.8 74.7

III. Physiography The study of the surface forms of a region is the physiography. An equilibrium between surface topography, vegetation cover, rainfall, erosion should exist in a given locality i.e. physiographic balance. In this connection, It is important to know about the physiography of a particular region. The peninsula of Kerala is the oldest land mass and the present land features have been formed by the denudation (erosion of soil and organic matter by natural or artificial means, exposing the formerly formed layers of the earth) and weathering of this landmass over a long period of time. . The state is divided into three physiographic regions. 1. The highland region The highland region is confined to the eastern portion. It consists of forests of western Ghats and its slopes. The range of elevation is 1000-2500 mts above mean sea level. 2.The lowland region This region exists in the west coast. The low lands or the coastal area is made up of river deltas back waters and the shore of Arabian sea. In other words, It is a strip of land having level topography running along the coast the width of which is not more than 30 km at any point. Presence of land forms is the characteristic feature of this region., 3. The midland region The midlands, lying between the highlands (mountains) and the lowlands, is made up of undulating hills and valleys. The elevation in this area is generally less than 100 mts above mean sea level. The soils are mainly lateritic in nature. These three regions run nearly parallel to each other from one end to other end. IV. Climate The state experiences a pleasant weather throughout the year as it is having a humid tropical to humid temperate climate. The annual rainfall is around 3000 mm contributed by both south-west and north-east monsoons. Maximum rainfall is contributed by south-west monsoon which commences 0in the middle of May, and ends in the last week of August, where as northeast monsoon starts at the end of September, continues up to November. Heavy rainfall coupled with tropical climate is responsible for the high humidity throughout the year with an average of 70 percent. The mean annual temperature is 27centigrad. The average minimum temperature ranges from 19-20C where as average maximum temperature from 27- 37centigrade. V. Soils

Based on the morphological and physico-chemical properties, soils of the state are divided into ten groups (Fig. 1). The characteristics of these soils are described here.

I. Red loams The deep red colour of these soils is due to the presence of hematite and limonite ores (iron oxides) and their combinations. The rapid permeability of the surface soils is responsible for the development of these red loamy soils which are very deep in nature. The gravel content is less (about 5%) with sand 65%, silt 18% and clay 12.4 percent. They are acidic with a pH range of 4.8 to 5.9. They are low in organic matter and available nutrients, Major crops grown in these soils are coconut and tapioca. Parts of Trivandrum and Neyyattinkara taluqs are characterised by these soils. 2. Lateritic soils These soils are scattered throughout the state occupying 58% of the total area. Heavy rainfall and high temperature are responsible for the leaching of bases and silica and the accumulation of iron and aluminium oxides leading to the formation of laterites. The surface soils are reddish brown to yellowish red in colour. The texture ranges from gravelly loam to gravelly clay loam. They are acidic and pH is 4.3. The percentage of gravel will be around 58, clay 42%, coarse sand 39% and fine sand 14 percent. The soils are well drained and poor in available major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and organic matter. Crops like coconut, tapioca, pepper, rubber, tuber crops are grown successfully as they respond to good cultural and management practices. 3. Coastal alluvium solis

Along the coastal belt of the state on the western side, these soils are found which have developed from marine deposits. The soils are nearly neutral in reaction (pH 6.6) with loamy sand to sandy loam in texture. The sand content is 82% with meagre quantities of silt and clay. Since they are sandy, excessive drainage and very rapid permeability are observed. 4. Riverine alluvium soils These soils occur mostly along the banks of rivers and their tributaries. They are very deep, acidic (pH 6.1) with surface texture ranging from sandy loam to clay loam. The contents of sand, clay and silt are 75%, 19% and 5 percent. They are generally well supplied with organic matter and potassium but deficient in phosphorus and lime. The soils are present in Kole lands of Trichur and Mukundapuram taluqs. They are poorly drained and important crops that are taken up for cultivation are rice, sugarcane, coconut, arecanut, banana and vegetables. 5. Hydro morphicsaline soils Saline soils are found near the coastal tracts of the state in the districts of Ernakulam, Alleppey, Trichur and Cannamore. The salinity is caused by the intrusion of back-waters and tidal waters into these areas. The soils are brownish, deep and imperfectly drained. The soil texture varies from sandy to clayey. The amount of sand is around 30%, clay 45% and silt is 20% in these soils. The electrical conductivity ranges from 0.1 to 2 m mhos/cm but it may go up to 10-15 m mhos/cm during summer season causing toxic salts accumulation. Only salt resistant varieties can be grown. During August to December, only one crop of rice is raised in these areas using salt resistant varities. During rainy season in June-July the fields are flooded and the salt is leached out, leaving the areas almost free of salts. 6. Greyish Onatukkara The sandy soils of Onattukara region are sandy loam to pure sand in texture having a pH of 6.2 slightly towards acidity and 84% sand. The Onattukara region comprises of Karunagopally, Karthikapally and Mavelikkara taluks of Quilon and A1leppey district. The soils are hilly porous, and experiences drainage problem. They are extremely deficient in all the major nutrients. Coconut is the major crop and the other crops grown are rice, sesamum and pulses. 7. Brown hydromorphic soils These soils occur throughout the state but mostly confined to valley bottoms between undulating topography in the midland and in lowlying areas of coastal strips. These are formed due to the transportation and deposition of soil from adjoining hill slopes and also through deposition by rivers. The soils suffer impeded drainage exhibiting hydromorphic features like grey horizons (layer of soil containing yellow and grey mottlings due to the oxidation, reduction reactions of iron caused by waterlogging), streaks, hard pans, organic matter deposition etc. They are deep, brownish and the texture varies from sandy loam to clay. The clay percent- age is 55 and sand is 30% with 5.2 pH, which is acidic in reaction. 8. Acid saline soils These are present in 1he Kuttanad area, which is the rice belt of Kerala covering 875 sq. km. along the coast A good portion of this area lies below sea level and is submerged under water for the major part of the year. These are water-logged soils and based on morphological and physio-chemi-cal properties, they are grouped into three categories. a. Kayal soils These are formed from the Vembanad lake and occupy 8000 ha extending in the two districts of Kottayam and Alleppey. These will be submerged in water for 5-6 months in a year.

As soon as the monsoon season ends, the water is pumped into the canals, and rice is grown. The soils are slightly acidic to neutral with low organic matter and available nutrients. The texture ranges from silty loam to clay loam, with sand 50%, silt 20% and at around 28% is the clay. b. Karapadam soils These soils occur along the inland water ways and rivers occuping a larger area of Kuttanad. They are river borne alluvial soils. They are very deep, poorly drained and dark grey with clay loam texture with 31% clay, 45% sand and silt 17%. The pH is 5.3 indicating the acidity of the soil which results in poor availability of the nutrients. c. Kari soils These are located mainly in the Ambalapuzha, Vaikom and Shertalai taluqs. They are deep, black, poorly drained, fine textured peat soils. They are extremely acidic in nature as the pH shows 3.0. They are rich in organic matter. 9. Black soils Black soils are dark in colour and low in organic matter, moderately alkaline (PH 8.0), high in clay content (61.7%), occurring in patches in Palghat district. They are very sticky and plastic possessing characteristic feature of shrinking and swelling developing cracks during dry periods. Rice is the main crop grown on these soils. 10. Forest soils The soils are dark reddish brown to black in colour indicating presence of high organic matter content. They occupy 25% of total land area of the state. They are loamy and silty loam in texture (40% sand, 36% silt and 22% clay). They are acidic having a pH of 5.8 which leads to the poor status of available nutrients. Plantation crops such as rubber, tea, cardomom are grown on these soils. VI. Problem Soils and Management Acidity, salinity, water logging and poor physical properties are the major problems that exist in the state. 1. Kuttanad arid soils Very strong soils (with pH less than 3.0) that are seen in Kuttanad areas are kept submerged in water for major part of the year as they lie below sea level: So, this area faces problems of floods and water stagnation. Toxicities of iron, aluminium, manganese are observed and the availability of calcium, magnesium, potassium is low. The organic matter rich soils of Kuttanad faces drainage problem apart form acidity. Occurrence of heavy rainfall damages the bunds while flooding results in severe crop damage. Management Research on soil acidity and plant growth, water management studied has to be intensified and proper agro-techniques for this area have to be framed. Apart from this, as rice is the major crop that is taken up for cultivation, certain precautions certainly helps to increase the productivity. Rice season starts by September-October and ends by January-February. Seeds should be sown only after dewatering the area. The soil should not be allowed to dry up after the seeds are sown. Formation of deep cracks and hand pans can be eliminated by submerging the field.

2. Kole soils Kole soils are also water-logged in nature like Kuttanad soils covering 11,000 ha in Trichur and Malappuram. The soils are shallow, acid saline due to intrusion of water, the characteristic feature that makes these soils to differ from Kuttanad acid soils. The soil is hard and brittle, poor in fertility. Management Intrusion of seawater is to be prevented and heavy doses of manures and fertilizers are to be applied. By proper soil and water management suitable cropping system is to be adopted. 3. Coastal sandy soils . Poor fertility, high water table, improper drainage are some of the problems of sandy soils. Management By the addition of organic matter, we can improve the physical condition of the soil. Addition of clay is also eco-nomical. Moisture conservation measures should be adopted. If rice is grown, nitrogen fertilizer is added in split doses, normally 4-5 splits during crop-growth period. 4. Alkaline and calcareous soils The soils of Chittoor area of Palaghat district shows high sodium hazards and they are marshy in nature, which makes the ploughing difficult. Management Application of red earth is recommended to improve the tilth. Varieties suitable to this tract should be used. Special adaptations like draining the soil, allowing it to dry and then ploughing should be done in order to reduce the marshy nature. As rice is the major crop in this region, flooding of the field after the preparatory cultivation will be beneficial. 5. Loe level laterites The major problems are poor fertility, poor physical properties, low organic matter, etc. Management Heavy fertilization and addition of organic matter in large quantity are recommended. 6. Hydromorphic saline soils. Saline soils are found along the coastal line of the state. Presence of toxic levels of salts is the main problem. Management Salt resistant varieties are to be taken up for cultivation. By irrigating the fields, salts become soluble in water and after sometime, the water is drained out leaching the salts. Repetition of this process of irrigating and leaching of salts reduces the salinity. Sprouted rice seeds are sown and this method of cultivation of rice in this region is known as . 'Pokkali' cultivation. VII. Irrigation and Cropping Pattern Around 22% of the total cropped area which comes to around 0.65 m ha. is the irrigated area in Kerala. About 90% of total irrigation water is used for food crops of which 80% on rice and 10% on other food crops: A number of irrigation projects have been taken up in Kerala.

When all the ongoing and envisaged projects are completed, it is expected to benefit about 0.2 m hectares. Since population is high, area of cultivation is proportionately high compared to geographical area of the state. Now-a-days, the state has developed commercial agriculture more than food crops. According to 1992-93 survey, out of 30.211akh hectares, the share of food crops (cereals, millets, pulses and tapioca) was only 23 percent. A wide variety of crops preferring cool; humid climate are cultivated. Kerala has unique cropping pattern. It accounts for 92% of India's rubber production, 70% of coconut, 60%'of tapioca and almost 100% of lemon grass oil. Rubber, coconut and tapioca are grown in low elevation under humid-tropical conditions. Crops like tea, coffee, cardomom are cultivated in highlands. The crops like banana, pepper, ginger, tapioca, rubber are grown in midlands. Kerala is the single largest producer of banana also. It holds monopoly with regard to rubber and pepper. Besides the commercial crops like rubber, tea, coffee, pepper, cashew, rice is the important crop of the state as a staple food of the people. It occupies nearly 30% of the total cropped area followed by coconut 25% and tapioca 10 percent. Rubber occupies an area of 4,37,100 hectares, tea around 34, 700 hectares coffee and cardamom 39,930 hectares as per 1992-93 survey. Refer table 2 for more details. Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Table 2 : Important crops grown in Kerala Name of crop Area (thousand hectares) Rice 807 Coconut 667 Areca nut 81 Tapioca 248 Pepper 108 Cashew nut 139 Cardamom 54 Rubber 238 Tea 36 Coffee 58 Cocoa 23 Papaya 11

Due to varied soil, land and physiographic and climatological features and peculiarity of fragmented holdings, Kerala has different cropping systems. 1. Coconut based fanning systems Coconut as the major crop along with intercrops like pepper, arecanut, cocoa, banana, turmeric, ginger, small tubers, fodder and in some areas upland rice, pulses and oil seeds. 2. Rice based fanning systems In low lands, a single crop or two crops of rice are grown depending on the availability of water as in the central region or after dewatering of impounded water as in Kayal lands of Kuttanad. In some areas, vegetables, pulses and oil seeds are grown in fallows or as summer crops. Fish farming or prawn culture is practised, after the rice crop, in the areas of water inundation.

3. Homestead farming systems This system has been in vogue in Kerala as the agroclimatic conditions favour the raising of wide variety of crops. The farmers choose their crop combinations and livestock fish farming to suit the prevailing conditions. VIII. Soil Fertility Status The average values for total nitrogen area 0.03% for sandy soils and 0.05% for clayey/loamy soils. The organic carbon values range from 0.3 to 0.5% from sandy to clayey soils. Depending on the nature of the soil, phosphorus application and potassium application varies. Micro-nutrient analysis revealed 30% of the soils are zinc deficient soils. Soils are having sufficient amounts of iron manganese, molybdenum where as copper is found in large amounts in sandy soils and less in Kari soils. IX. Fertilizer Recommendation for Important Crops A fertilizer use efficiency of 30-40% for nitrogen, 10-20% for phosphorus and 50-60% for potassium can be expected under Kerala conditions. The trend in fertilizer consumption has also gone up to around 1.5 lakh tonnes. Different crops need different quantities of fertilizers and depending on the crops need, fertilizer doses are recommended. General .recommended doses for important crops are given in table 3. Table 3 : General fertilizer recommendation for important crops Sl.No Crops 1 Rice (high yielding) (kg/ha) a. Short duration varieties b. Medium duration varieties c. Local varieties Coconut (kg/palm/annum) a. Average management b. Good management Areca nut (g/palm/annum) Tapioca (kg/ha) a. Hybrids (H-165, 1687,2304) b. M-4 and local varieties Sweet potato (kg/ha) Sesamum (kg/ha) Groundnut (kg/ha) Banana (g/palm/annum) Pineapple (kg/ha) Sugarcane (kg/ha) Pepper (g/vine/annum) Ginger (kg/ha) Cardamom (kg/ha) Cashew nut (g/tree/annum) Recommended doses N P 70 90 40 0.34 0.50 100 100 50 75 30 10 190 320 165 100 75 30 250 35 45 20 0.17 0.32 40 100 50 50 15 75 115 160 82.5 40 50 60 125 K 35 45 20 0.68 0.20 40 100 50 75 30 75 300 320 82.5 140 50 30 125

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

X. Techniques for Efficient Fertilizer Use For nitrogen, techniques like split application in coastal sandy soils, foliar application etc. are being adopted by the farmers. Methods like urea coated granular, fertilizer placement care also be followed. Application of rock phosphate in acid soils of Kerala has been found as efficient as super phosphate application. Basal application is better than split application. Generally application of potassium along with nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc increases the grain yields. Potassium is being applied in two doses, half the quantity as basal and half, 5-7 days prior to panicle initiation of the crop. XI. Priorities for Future Soil survey department should take up soil test crop correlation studies on soil wise basis and region-wise basis. It enables to modify the available and modem technology to suit to the locations and the cultivated crops. This needs an immediate attention by co-ordinated projects of soil test crop response studies conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Techniques for efficient fertilizer use should also be given importance. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%