Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Basavaraj K, BS Reddy, Maheshkumar, Rajesh NL, U Satishkumar and BK Desai

Abstract:
A study was undertaken to evaluate six soil series belonging to Dabarbad sub-watershed of Kalaburagi taluka, Kalaburagi districtin North Eastern Dry Zone (Zone-2) of Karnataka for sustainable land use planning. Six soil series were tentatively identified and mapped into 27 mapping units using GIS technique. Weighted mean of each soil property was calculated and soil-site characteristics of different soil mapping units were matched. The results revealed that twenty seven mapping units were grouped into land capability class III and IV with limitations of erosion and physico-chemical properties Most of the area (36.10%) was marginally suitable (S3l) followed by moderately suitable (S2l) for agriculture crops (sorghum, redgram, blackgram, bengalgram and sugarcane) due to slight to moderate limitation of topography. Majority of the study area (71.01%) was currently not suitable (N1) for cultivation of horticulture crops (mango, sapota, guava and lime) due to severe limitations of rooting depth, texture and topography of soils. Suitable agronomic soil conservation practices are adopted to improve the soil productive constraints such as soil slope, erosion and soil depth.