Land Degradation Assessment and Land Evaluation in Mula Command of Irrigated Agroecosystem of Maharashtra

Detailed soil survey was carried out in Minor No. 3 of the Mula command area representing irrigated agroecosystem in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Soil survey interpretations revealed that Vertisols (60.6%), Inceptisols (28.5%) and Entisols (10.9%) were the predominant soils in the command area. The physical and chemical properties of soils varied greatly and the soils in general were high in clay (36 to 57%), moderately to strongly alkaline (pH 8.2 to 9.5) with electrical conductivity of saturation extract (ECe) varying from 0.70 to 6.52 dS m⁻¹, exchangeable sodium percentage from 3.9 to 27 and high calcium carbonate varying from 88 to 205 g kg⁻¹. The area affected due to soil degradation by salinity and sodicity in the command under study was 65.6% out of which 36.3% was sodic and 29.3 saline-sodic. According to FAO soil suitability approach, 41% of area was found to be moderately to marginally suitable for sugarcane while 50% area is presently unsuitable in view of serious limitations, mainly of high electrical conductivity and exchangeable sodium percentage indicating priority areas for land reclamation. For wheat, 18% area is highly suitable, 31% moderately to marginally suitable while remaining area can be considered as potentially suitable after soil improvement. The soil suitability approach is useful to indicate potential areas for soil reclamation in the context of a specific crop. The dominant soil-related constraints governing suitability of soils for commonly cultivated crops in the command area are salinity, sodicity, soil depth, erosion, drainage, organic carbon and calcium carbonate.