Influence of irrigation water on black soils in Amravati district, Maharashtra

In view of earlier reports on the occurrence of saltaffected shrink-swell soils in the Purna valley areas in Amravati district of Maharashtra, the present study was carried out to assess the current nature and extent of soil degradation due to use of irrigation water. Results indicate that the irrigation water used to raise agricultural crops in Amravati, Bhatkuli, Warud and Daryapur tehsils contains enough soluble Na-ions and residual sodium carbonate as the water belongs to C4S2 and C4S1 class of the United States Salinity Laboratory. The anthropogenic activities by introducing irrigation have caused severe drainage problem in the shrink-swell soils of the district, which are highly clayey and smectitic that have inherent low permeability. Only exception is the better drained soils of Warud tehsil, which are endowed with Ca-zeolite that help to ward off the ill effects of irrigation. The study thus suggests that continuing the present anthropogenic activities might render the soils unsuitable for agricultural production in the future. In contrast, the soils which are not irrigated do not suffer from any serious degradation in terms of high exchangeable Na (ESP) and low saturated hydraulic conductivity (sHC), suggesting that it would be prudent to encourage rainfed agriculture in the district under improved management practices