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Not AvailableThe land resource inventory of Bijjur-1 microwatershed was conducted using village cadastral maps and IRS satellite imagery on 1:7920 scale. The false colour composites of IRS imagery were interpreted for physiography and the physiographic delineations were used as base for mapping soils. The soils were studied in several transects and a soil map was generated with phases of soil series as mapping units. Random checks were made all over the area outside the transects to confirm and validate the soil map unit boundries. The soil map shows the geographic distribution and extent, characteristics, classification and use potentials of the soils in the micro-wartershed. The present study covers an area of 560 ha in Shirahatti taluk of Gadag district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought prone with an average annual rainfall of 633 mm of which about 363 mm is received during south–west monsoon, 165 mm during north-east and the remaining 105 mm during the rest of the year. An area of about 99 per cent is covered by soils, one per cent by rock lands, waterbodies, settlements and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below. The soils belong to 13 soil series and 25 soil phases (management units) and 7 land management units. The length of crop growing period is about 150 days starting from the 3rd week of June to 1rd week of October. From the master soil map, several interpretative and thematic maps like land capability, soil depth, surface soil texture, soil gravelliness, available water capacity, soil slope and soil erosion were generated. Soil fertility status maps for macro and micronutrients were generated based on the surface soil samples collected at every 250 m grid interval. Land suitability for growing major agricultural and horticultural crops were assessed and maps showing degree of suitability along with constraints were generated. About 99 per cent area in the microwatershed is suitable for agriculture. About 21 per cent of the soils are deep (100-150 cm), about 30 per cent are moderately deep (75-100 cm) soils, 45 per cent are moderately shallow to shallow (25-75 cm) and two per cent are very shallow (25-75 cm). About 96 per cent of the area has clayey soils and 3 per cent are loamy soils at the surface. About 6 per cent of the area has non-gravelly (<15%) soils, 33 per cent gravelly soils (15-35 %), 58 per cent very gravelly (35- 60%) soils and 3 per cent extremely gravelly (60-80%) soils. About 18 per cent of the area has soils that are very high (>200mm/m) in available water capacity, 56 per cent medium (100-150 mm/m) and about 25 per cent low (50-100 mm/m) and very low (<50mm/m). About 99 per cent of the area has nearly level (0-1%) to very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands. An area of about 43 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1), 42 per cent moderately eroded (e2) and 14 per cent soils are severe eroded (e3). An area of about 7 per cent has soils that are moderately alkaline (pH 7.8 to 8.4), 91 per cent strongly to very strongly alkaline (pH 8.4 to >9.0) and only one per cent has soils that are slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8). The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline. About 87 per cent medium (0.5-0.75%) and 12 per cent low (<0.5%) in organic carbon. The entire area of about 99 per cent has soils that are low (<23 kg/ha) in available phosphorus. About 27 per cent medium (145-337 kg/ha) and 73 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium. Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in about 49 per cent area and medium (10-20 ppm) in about 51 per cent area. Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in about 89 per cent area, 9 per cent medium (0.5- 1.0 ppm) and 2 per cent high (>1.0 ppm). Available iron, manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils. About 99 per cent area has soils that are deficient (