Soils of Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh : Characteristics and Mineralogy for sustainable land use planning

The modern agriculture requires precise information on various agro-climatic parameters like soil types, rainfall and temperature etc. and for optimum utilization of available land resources on the sustainable basis, timely and reliable information on soil regarding their nature, extent and spatial distribution along with their potentials and limitations is important. Assessment of soil characteristics requires to conduct a systematic soil survey of an area which helps to design the future plan of action, because, soil survey provides an accurate and scientific inventory of different soils, their kind and nature, and extent of distribution etc. It also provides adequate information in terms of land form, terraces, vegetation as well as characteristics of soils e.g. depth, texture, structure, stoniness, drainage, acidity, salinity and microbial properties which can be utilized for the planning and development. In this book the authors have analyzed the characteristics, classification and mineralogy of the soils of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh. This book helps to the students, farmers, researchers and planners to understand the soil properties for better land use planning.