Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
M. Velayutham
M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India
D. K. Pal
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, India
Jala-Bhumi: Krishi-Sukti, a comprehensive book on than matasi and dorsa, and yield good paddy and
‘‘agriculture science’’ attributed to Kasyapa (Misra wheat. Bhata soils are barren wastelands on uplands
Chakrapani[1]), classified land into 1) wet lands for with gravelly sandy soils and are reddish yellow.
paddy fields named as suli bhumi, jala-bhumi, and Red soils of Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh are
sasya bhumi, and 2) dry lands called adhaka bhumi, known as parwa and rakar; the former is a brownish
tara bhumi, and usa bhumi. gray soil with loam to sandy clay loam texture,
Land with a mild color like the sapphire or the whereas the latter is not useful for cultivation.
plumage of a parrot, or is in the color of conch or The red soils of Telangana district of Andhra Pra-
the moon or is bright like molten gold, is considered desh are known as chalkas, which are sandy loams
as excellent. located on highlands and are cultivated for kharif
crops. In Andhra Pradesh the pale brown to brown
soils are known as dubba soils. These soils have low
REVENUE SYSTEM OF LAND CLASSIFICATION fertility and suffer severe erosion, and thus are sub-
marginal lands and more suited for pasture and forage
In ancient India, as in modern times, land revenue was crops. Similarly, in Orissa state, the soils are classified
based on income from land. In other words, the as at, mal, berna, and bahal according to their topo-
revenue was rated according to the productivity and graphic situation. The revenue system of soil classifica-
kind of soil. tion and these local names provide an index of soil
Manu, the Arthasastra, and the Sukraniti presup- fertility.
pose a gradation of land, survey and measurement,
calculation of outturn, as well as expenses per unit of
land. It is indicated in the Arthasastra and the Smrtis Initiatives During the 19th to 20th Century
that not only laid stringent rules about leaving a good
producer’s surplus but also a classification of soil on Raychaudhuri[1] indicated that scientific interest in the
the basis of fertility. The king’s share did not necessa- characteristics of Indian soils began when the Geologi-
rily mean a fixed share. It was determined on the basis cal Survey of India started studying the soils and the
of soil fertility and by the needs of the State or of the underlying strata in 1846. In 1898, Leather recognized
cultivator. Measurement and survey and the differen- four major groups of soils in the country: 1) Indo-
tiation of soils according to their productivity thus Gangetic alluvial soils; 2) black or regur soils; 3) red
indicate that land revenue assessment was not perma- soils; and 4) laterite and lateritic soils. The first soil
nent, and it used to be revised at times, although a map of India was prepared by Schokalasky in 1932.[1]
constant revision was not felt necessary. Megasthenes, Wadia, Krishnan, and Mukherjee[3] mentioned that
in his travel notes, recorded that Maurya officers were soil groups were nearly coterminal with the boundaries
most likely concerned with the measurement and of the geological outcrops. Vishwanath and Ukil[4]
supervision of alluvial deposits for revenue purposes.[2] prepared a soil map portraying the different climatic
The review of Raychaudhuri[1] indicates that during types on the basis of N.S. quotients by adopting
the 16th century in India the land assessment classifica- color and texture as units of classification; these were
tion was based on the suitability of soils for crops. It correlated with four major climatic zones (arid, semi-
also considered other factors such as texture and color arid, humid, and perhumid). In 1954, a revised map
of soils, availability of water, slope of the land, and was prepared at IARI, New Delhi, on the scale 1 in.
yield of crops. Considering all these, in addition to ¼ 70 miles, and it showed 20 broad soil classes. The
marketing facilities for the produce, fair estimates of soil map was revised by Raychaudhuri[5] and later on
land values were arrived at. The land that was depen- by Raychaudhuri and Govindarajan.[6] This map pro-
dent solely on rainfall was called barani, that watered vided the extent, distribution of the different soil
by wells was chahi, land irrigated by canal was nahri, classes in the map, and their equivalents available in
and land moistened by river percolation was sailabi. In USDA system.
addition, local names of soils that conform closely to
the soil classes were also developed. An example of this
from Chhattisgarh state indicates four classes of soils CONCLUSIONS
like matasi, dorsa, kanhar, and bhata. These soils
are in a catenary sequence, wherein matasi are yellow Despite consciousness since ancient times about the
soils on the upland or level land with loam to clay loam need to classify the soils according to their nature
and loamy clay in texture and yield good paddy. Dorsa and the relation to the production of specific crops
soils are on the slopes, darker, and with the same for human sustenance, there is still a lack of compre-
texture as of matasi and yield good paddy. Kanhar hensive national classification system for soils of India
soils are in lowland areas, dark and slightly heavier like that in the United States and other continents,
which can be built on a model, based on key 2. Bose, A.N. Social and Rural Economy of Northern India
‘‘functional parameters’’ of soils (just as functional (c. 600 BC–A.D. 200); Firma, K.L., Ed.; Mukhopadhyay:
genomics) in relation to sustainable land use and Calcutta, 1961; 154 pp.
management, as indicated by Velayutham.[7] 3. Wadia, D.N.; Krishnan, M.S.; Mukherjee, P.N. Introduc-
tory note on the geological formation of the soils of
India. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 1935, 68, 369–391.
4. Vishwanath, B.; Ukil, A.C. Soil Map of Indian Agricul-
ACKNOWLEDGMENT tural Research Institute; New Delhi, 1943.
5. Raychaudhuri, S.P. Land resources of India. In Indian
Most of the information has been excerpts of the Soils—Their Classification, Occurrence and Properties;
review made by Raychaudhuri (1975). Committee on Natural Resources, Planning Commission,
Govt. of India, 1964; Vol. I.
6. Raychaudhuri, S.P.; Govindarajan, S.V. Soils of India,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Technical
REFERENCES Bulletin (Agr.) No. 25; 1971; 1–45.
7. Velayutham, M. Available soil information and the need
1. Raychaudhuri, S.P. Evolution of classification of soils of for a systematic classification of soils of India. J. Indian
India. Indian Agric. 1975, 19 (1), 163–173. Soc. Soil Sci. 2000, 48 (4), 683–689.