Developing a Soil Quality Index for Ravinous Ustifluvents of the Semi-Arid Region of India

Understanding impacts and processes involved induced by changes in land use pattern is a key issue for management policies which helps in formulation of land restoration and reclamation strategies. A study was conducted at ravinous landform of the Ustifluvents of the Yamuna region to select the most sensitive soil quality indicators, which may reflect on the state of soil condition. Three different land use systems (forest, agriculture and uncultivated ravinous wasteland-reference land) were selected for the study. In forest land use the most prevalent species (Jatropha curcas, Leucaena leucocephala, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora) of the semi-arid regions were selected. An uncultivated ravinous wasteland located adjacent to agriculture and forest land uses was selected as reference site for comparison. The entire data of soil properties under different land use systems were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) for identification of sensitive indicators. Correlation analyses amongst the highly weighed variables were done to remove the redundant parameters. In order to develop the soil quality index and assess the relative degradation status of different land uses, the sensitive indicators were normalized to 0–1 scale by different scoring functions and finally an index was developed by using an additive model. The sensitive indicators (minimum dataset) under the ravinous Ustifluvent in descending order of importance as revealed by factor analysis were as follows: exchangeable Na > available N > sand content > active carbon > available K > available P. The soil quality index developed for the site could be used as a decision making tool for formulation of policies leading to land restoration and reclamation of ravinous wasteland of the semi-arid region of India.