Physicochemical Characteristics of the Soil on the Growth of Sal Forest in Jharkhand

The physicochemical characterization of soil on the growth of selected Sal forest in Hazaribag, Chatra, Koderma, and Ranchi districts of Jharkhand in India has been carried out. The paper describes the different basic factors which support the growth of Saldominated forest found in these areas. The soil sampling was done using a quadrate method based on the principle of systematic sampling. Ten samples each were collected from Hazaribag, Chatra, Koderma, and Ranchi Sal forests of Jharkhand for the study of soil properties. The soil samples were collected from eight different quadrates in order to determine soil quality index viz. soil texture, MC, WHC, OC, OM, pH, N, P, Na, K, and Ca. The soil pH was found to be slightly acidic having a range of 5.40– 5.99. Moisture content, water-holding capacity, organic carbon, organic matter, and available nitrogen of soil samples were found to be in the range of 3.70–11.30%, 35.27–57.59%, 0.46–0.97%, 1.36–3.54%, 207–314 Kg/ha, respectively. P, Na, K was found to be in the range of 2.96-7.19 Kg/ha, 2.73-5.34, 154.56- 471.38 Kg/ha and Ca in mg/kg was found to be 1712- 3144 respectively