An Introduction to Soil Science

Contents: 1. Soil: an introduction. 2. Rocks and minerals. 3. Weathering of rocks and minerals. 4. Soil formation, factors and processes. 5. Soil profile. 6. Soil classification and taxonomy. 7. Soil survey and land capability classification. 8. Soil physical properties. 9. Soil water. 10. Soil air. 11. Soil temperature. 12. Dynamic soil physical properties. 13. Soil colloids. 14. Ion exchange. 15. Soil organic matter. 16. Acid soils, formation and their management. 17. Salt affected soils, formation and their management. 18. Soil fertility and productivity. 19. Essential plant nutrients. 20. Functions and deficiency symptoms of essential nutrient elements in plants. 21. Luxury consumption of nutrients and nutrient interactions in plants and soils. 22. Transformations and availability of nutrients in soils. 23. Soil fertility evaluation. 24. Nitrogeneous fertilizers. 25. Phosphatic fertilizers. 26. Potassic fertilizers. 27. Mixed fertilizers. 28. Integrated plant nutrient management. 29. Methods of fertilizer applications. 30. Organic manures. 31. Chemistry of submerged soils. 32. Quality of irrigation waters-criteria and parameters used for judgment. 33. Major soil types of India. References. The soil is one of the important natural resource which play pre-dominant role in food and nutritional security. So, conservation of soil health is paramount importance to feed the ever increasing population of the country. In order to better understanding of the soil, different domains of the soil science, namely soil pedology, Soil mineralogy, Soil genesis, survey and classification, Soil Physics, Soil chemistry, Soil fertility, Soil biology and biochemistry and problematic soils, etc. are necessary to be studied for sustained crop production. The book entitled An Introduction to Soil Science has been useful for students, teachers and researcher of agriculture universities and policy-makers. The book has been written in a simple language and understandable manner. The book deals with genesis, physical, chemical and biological properties of the soils. The contents of the book include thirty three chapters. All chapters should be thoroughly viewed as a concise collection of various topics from different books, journals bulletins, and research papers, etc. Figures and tables have also been provided, wherever necessary. It is hoped that this textbook will help to improve the knowledge of students regarding Soil science and Agricultural chemistry. …