Syllabus - Soil Technology -I (AT302)

Agriculture Technology

Soil Technology -I (AT302)

III-Semester

Unit I

Pedological and edaphological concepts; Earth’s crust, Composition of Rocks and minerals; Weathering, soil formation factors and processes; Components of soils; Soil profile; Classification of soils and soils of India

Unit II

Soil physical properties and their significance; Soil texture and textural classes; particle size analysis; Soil structure and classification; soil aggregates and its significance; Soil consistency; soil crusting; Bulk density and particle density of soils & porosity, their significance and manipulation ; Soil colour – its significance, causes and measurement.

Unit III

Soil water, Soil water retention, potentials, Soil moisture constants; Methods of determination of soil moisture; Thermal properties of soil, soil temperature, Soil air, Gaseous exchange; Influence of soil temperature and air on plant growth; Soil Colloids: Inorganic and organic colloids, their nature and physico-chemical properties.

Unit IV

Ion exchange phenomena; Layer silicate clays, their genesis and sources of charges; Adsorption of ions, ion exchange, CEC and AEC, factors influencing ion exchange and its significance; Soil reaction, Buffering capacity and EC; Soil organic matter, composition, decomposition, Humus, Fractionation of organic matter; Carbon cycle, C:N ratio,; Soil biology, Biomass, Soil Organisms & their beneficial & harmful roles.

Course Objective

The course introduces students to basic knowledge of soil science for better understanding of agro-technologies and production related issues.

Course Outcome

After successful completion of the course, students are expected to possess basic understanding and knowledge about soil science and impart competence to acquire advance knowledge related to soil technologies.

Practicals

  • Identification of common rocks and minerals

  • Soil sample collection and processing for analysis

  • Visit to soils of different terrains and study of soil profile

  • Determination of particle size distribution

  • Determination of bulk density, particle density and porosity

  • Soil aggregate analysis

  • Measurement of soil water content by different methods

  • Determination of soil water potential – Tensiometer

  • Soil moisture constants – Field capacity Infiltration rate, water holding capacity

  • Determination of soil pH and EC

  • Analytical chemistry – Basic concepts, techniques and calculations

  • Estimation of soil organic carbon

Reference Books

  • The Nature and properties of soils- N.C.Brady and Ray R.Weil

  • A text book of Soil Science – T.D. Biswas & S.K. Mukherjee

  • Soil Science- An Introduction – Indian Society of Soil Science

  • Dilip Kumar Das. 2004. Introductory Soil Science, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi

  • Conception, Application of Pedology – J.L. Sehgal

  • Introduction to Soil Physics –D. Hillel

  • Vogel’s Quantitative Chemical Analysis – Vogel