Pedological Approach to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Case Study in Southern Transition Zone of Karnataka, India

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly seen as a promising approach to feed the growing world population under climate change. Soil genesis, development and classification are key components for sustainable soil resource management and crop production towards CSA. The CSA concept encompasses productivity, adaptation and mitigation. Farm-scale soil mapping at 1:10,000 provides detailed information on climate, soil, water, cropping systems and socio-economic conditions. The land resources inventory (LRI) carried out in part of Nuggihalli block, Hassan district in the Southern Transition Zone of Karnataka and mapped with 55 phases of 15 soil series. Dodderi Kaval series (S4-DKL 2) was identified for CSA adoption and mitigation. Soil developed on upland had moderate soil and water quality associated with ragi-based cropping systems and dairy is a major allied activity under DKL 2 soil series. Mitigation measures were adopted for areas having poor soil quality, where productivity and adaptation are priorities for marginal soils. Integrating different approaches that promote soil quality management, based on natural resources, can provide potential opportunities for adopting CSA in this region.