Management and Future Research Strategies for Enhancing Productivity of Crops on the Acid Soils

摘要

The acid soils of the world consist large areas of potentially arable land (30%), which are concentrated in Brazil (called Cerrados), Columbia, Venezuela, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia (von Uexkull and Mutert 1995). The acid soils (pH <6.5) in India occupy approximately 90 million hectares (Mha) of the geographical area (Sharma and Sarkar 2005). Acidic soils below pH 5.5 occupy around 25 Mha of arable land. Such type of problematic soils in India are mainly concentrated in north-eastern (NE) region and Western Ghats, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Uttarakhand with sporadic distribution in Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, etc. In the north-eastern region the acid soils below pH 5.5 occupy 54% of the total area of the country. The toxicity of soilAl has been recognized as one of the important factors limiting the productivity of crops on acid soils with pH less than 5.5. Management of such type of soils for agriculture is the national priority.