Rehabilitation of abandoned and denuded land through energy plantation

Rehabilitation of abandoned and denuded land by plantation of multipurpose tree species (MPT) was done at Golaghat district of Assam. Composite soil samples were collected before plantation and after every six months from 14 non-legume and 6 legume plantation sites at three soil depths i.e. 0-25, 25-50 and 50-100 cm. Soil physical properties showed no significant change with chemical properties showing much variation. Five years after plantation, surface and subsurface soil pH decreased from initial values under both legume and non-legume. While soil organic carbon showed an increasing trend after an initial decrease in all species. Higher soil organic carbon was recorded under non-legume than legume. Total nitrogen in soil increased uniformly under all species. At lower depth, it showed much variation among the species. Subsurface soils contained high amount of available phosphorous. Leguminous tree contributed more available soil phosphorous than non-leguminous trees. Drastic decline in case of exchangeable potassium in every plantation site was observed although it later increased. Exchangeable Ca and Mg content decreased sharply from the initial values.