Effect of different land use types on selected soil characteristics in Erode district, Tamil Nadu

An experiment was conducted with thirty cropping systems from six land use types (agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, pastoral, horticulture + agriculture and silviculture + horticulture) to observe the effect of various land use systems on soil properties. The results showed that land use type had a substantial impact on measured soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), available nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, electrical conductivity (EC) and soil reaction (pH). Results showed that agriculture/horticulture based land use systems had considerably higher pH (on an average: 8.30) and EC (0.93 dS m-1) values than did other land use systems. The SOM and SOC in tree-based land use systems were found to be higher than cultivated agri and horti soils. The findings indicated that periodical cultivation of land with agricultural/horticultural crops reduced the soil organic matter, available nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium while dramatically raising pH and EC. Therefore, for sustainable agricultural productivity, it is necessary to create integrated land management strategies that could aid in restoring soil fertility and limiting soil deterioration.