An assessment of the soil-site suitability for major pulse and oilseed crops in the Ganjigatti sub-watershed, Karnataka using RS and GIS

Defining the relationship between soil characteristics and crop requirements must be the first step in planning future agricultural land use. The aim of the present study is to identify the constraints and potentials of soils in the Ganjigatti sub-watershed of Karnataka, India and evaluate them for crop suitability and propose agricultural land use plans (ALUP). Soil samples were collected from genetic layers of 27 soil profiles and the physical-chemical properties of the soil samples were analyzed. Twenty-one soil series and their phases (sixty-one) identified and mapped during the land resource inventory were evaluated for their soil-site suitability for major pulse and oilseed crops. After classification of the land suitability classes, they were mapped using ArcGIS version 10.8. The results revealed that the majority area of the sub-watershed was moderately (S2) and marginally (S3) suitable for pigeonpea (2486 ha, 57.49% of TGA), chickpea (3534 ha, 81.74% of TGA), groundnut (3755 ha, 86.80% of TGA), sunflower (2192 ha, 50.70% of TGA), soybean (3172 ha, 73.37% of TGA) and sesame (3754 ha, 86.79% of TGA), with moderate to severe limitations of soil drainage, soil texture, depth, gravelines and slope. The soil series BGD and MLP were currently not suitable due to very severe limitations of soil depth. These results could be used as baseline information for identifying specific soil resource constraints for the sustainable production of these pulse and oilseed crops in the study area.