Characterization of soils of Ghataprabha Left Bank Canal command area of north Karnataka for salinity and sodicity

A study was conducted to characterize soil salinity and sodicity of Ghataprabha Left Bank Canal command area of Mudhol taluk (Bagalkot District). Bulk Electrical conductivity of salt affected soils was determined by using electromagnetic induction (EM 38). The pHs of surface and sub-surface soil layers ranged from 7.4 to 8.7 and 7.7 to 8.6, respectively. Electrical conductivity of saturated extract of surface and sub-surface soils ranged from 4.2 to 59.9 dSm-¹ and 4.2 to 57.0 dSm⁻¹. Majority of soil samples were found to be saline as sodium absorption ratio (SAR) ranged between 0.3 to 10.8 and 0.5 to 10.9 for surface and sub-surface soil, respectively. Among the analysed surface soil samples, 26 per cent were saline, 18 per cent sodic and 56 per cent were saline-sodic. On the other hand, 26, 20 and 54 per cent of soils were categorized into saline, sodic and saline-sodic, respectively. Among the water soluble cations, Na⁺ (10.9 to 73.4 cmol (P⁺) kg⁻¹) pre-dominated in surface and sub-surface horizons (10.9 to 65.2 cmol (P⁺) kg⁻¹). Among water soluble anions, Cl⁻ dominated both in surface (2.0 to 60 me L-¹) and sub-surface (2.0 to 59.0 me L-¹).