CS(AR)-28/96-97 : Soil physio-chemcial properties of Basantar catchment, J&K

Abstract

Basantar sub catchment, a small part of Chenab basin in Western Himalaya is selected for determining soil Physio - chemical properties which are useful to simulate any hydrological model for watershed management.

A total of ten sites distributed in the study area were selected based on elevation and access. Soil samples were collected from these sites which cover different land use (i.e. Agriculture, Barren, Grass and Forest ). Collected samples were analyzed for Physical properties (i.e. Specific gravity, Bulk density, Permeability, Porosity, Moisture content and Moisture retention capacity) and chemical properties (i.e. Percent organic matter, carbon, potassium and sodium). Besides these properties infiltration test was also carried out at all the four different landuses.

The average percentage of various particle sizes in Basantar sub catchment is :Gravel-13.31, Sand-74.78 and Silt-11.83. Thus the soil in Basantar sub catchment is dominated by sand constituent. Average infiltration rate for Barren 6.44 cm/hr, Grass 3.30 cm/hr, Agriculture 12.40 cm/hr and Forest 11.70 ern/hr. Organic matter in different landuse conditions was 13 to 22% in forest, 9.32 to 21.89% in agriculture land, 3.64 to 17.83% in grass land and 7.7 to 18.64% in barren land. It is less than 25% in all the analysed soil samples. Potassium in the different landuse conditions was found 5.46 mg/g to 91 mg/g while sodium ranged between 4.90 mg/g to 36 mg/g.