Soils of Bargarh District
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Orissa Review * November - 2008 Soils of Bargarh District Dr. Antaryami Mishra Dr. B. B. Mishra Bargarh district, situated in the western most part Jira and Jhaun have originated and have enriched of Orissa state, is located within the latitude of the soils of the Bargarh plain. o o o 20 43' N to 21 41' N and longitude of 82 39' E 2. North western Ambhabona Plain to 83o58' E. Extending over an area of 584.000 ha, it occupies 3.75 per cent of state's area. It This division has been separated from receives 1527 mm of average annual rainfall. The Bargarh plain by the high hill range of Barapahar district has been divided into 2 sub divisions on the southeast. In most parts the lands are quite namely Bargarh and Padampur. The district has level. Comprised of major part of Ambhabona 12 Blocks which greatly vary in their Block it is bounded on the north and west by physiography, soil, climate and vegetation. Raigarh district of Chhatisgarh. The river Mahanadi flowing on its north eastern boundary Physiography drains directly into the Hirakud reservoir. The two important rivers flowing through 3. Southern Bargarh plain this district are Jira and Ong which form the sub- catchments of Mahanadi catchment. The Among the natural plain divisions, this is Mahanadi reservoir formed by Hirakud Dam is the largest in the district comprising of Bhatli, adjacent to the Blocks of Ambhabona and Bargarh, Bheden, Barpali and Bijepur Blocks, Attabira whereas the Mahanadi river is adjacent north eastern part of Sohela Block and the entire to Bheden Block. area of Attabira Block except the limited portion in the north occupied by the Barapahar hill range. The district is marked into four natural The greater portion of this division is an open physiographic divisions as follows: plain. On the north of this plain runs the Barapahar 1. North western Barapahar forest range of hills while in the south west lies the Ong The Barapahar hill range, which literally valley. The plain has a very high percentage of means a range comprising of twelve hills, running cultivated land of the district and its mild in east-west direction, lies between the undulating character offers excellent scope for Ambhabona plain on the north east and the irrigation from Hirakud Dam Project in major part Hirakud reservoir on the north and east with the of this plain (Mishra, 1985); though there is a Bargarh plain on the south. Attaining a height of great variation in geomorphological conditions 2267' (691 m) at the peak of Debrigarh, which within the command area (Mishra and Nanda, has level ground and good water supply near the 1984). summit, the valleys between the hills are quite 4. Western Ong Valley productive. It is from this division that the Located on the extreme south western part important tributaries of river Mahanadi, such as of the district, this natural division is bounded by 36 Orissa Review * November - 2008 high hill ranges on the north and south and the The topography is mostly undulating intervening plain is drained by the river Ong, the comprising ridges and valleys. At the ridge crest valley of which is quite well suited for agriculture. are the upland and at the upper slopes the bunded This Ong valley division comprises of entire area and unbunded lands are locally called as 'Att' and of Paikmal, Jharbandh, Padampur and Gaisilet 'Mal' respectively which together constitute the Blocks besides the northwestern part of Sohela high land. The valley bottom lands which constitute Block. The area is drained by the river Ong which the lowlands are called 'Bahal' and the lower valley flows through it in a wide semi-circle form west side lands constituting the medium lands are called to east and after few kilometers from Gaisilet 'Berna' (Mishra, 1985). joins the river Mahanadi. The tributaries of Ong have afforded very good scope for construction The climate, vegetation and other biotic of a number of medium irrigation projects which factors, parent rock types and topography have been quite useful for cropping system of this indicating the different land types have zone. considerably influenced genesis of the soils and consequently great variation in soils in different Soils : parts of the district is observed. These belong to Most part of the district is based on the four orders according to the recent system of Archaen rocks, such as gneisses, granites, mica 'Soil Taxonomy' , such as Alfisols, Entisols, schists and quartzites (Mishra, 1972).The Inceptisols and Vertisols (Mishra and Mohapatra, gneisses of Archaen formations mostly comprises 1996, Sahu and Mishra, 2005 and Mishra, of prophyritic granite-gneiss and fine grained 2007). However as per the earlier system of biotite gneiss and charnokites, the first one being classification these can be marked into the most prevalent, while among the Cuddapah the following great groups (Mishra, 1972). prevalent rock types are shales and sandstones; 1. Red and Black soils quartzites, limestones, dolerite and quartz veins (Mishra, 1988). Red and yellow soils in association with black soils are found in Paikmal, Jharbandh, Though all the five factors of soil formation Padampur and Gaisilet Blocks located in the Ong (Jenny, 1941; Buol et al., 1980) are well valley. Occurrence of black soils could be pronounced, in the genesis of the soils of this district, physiography has greatly influenced the attributed to limestone parent material in these condition of the soil. areas and such materials transported by Ong river and its tributaries. As the two groups of soils Climate of the district is characterized by vary at very close distances, these are therefore, dry hot summer, monsoon rains and cold winter. grouped together as mixed red and black soils. May is the hottest month and December the coldest .August is the rainiest month. 2. Laterite and lateritic soils The elevation of the district varies from less lateritic soils occur in the Blocks of than 500 feet to as high as 2000 feet. In Ambhabona, Bhatli, Bargarh, Bheden, Barpali, Gandhamardan Range, running along the northern Bijepur, Sohela and Attabira.This is chiefly boundary of Padampur and Paikmal Blocks the attributed to comparatively flat and upland hill range rises to 2000-3000 feet and reaches its favouring greater illuviation of iron and manganese highest point of 3,234 feet in the peak of and excessive leaching of bases. This is also Nrushinghanath, one of the picturesque places in reflected in the high soil acidity of the Blocks the district. having these soils. The parent rock of Ambhabona 37 Orissa Review * November - 2008 and Jharbandh Blocks are Shales and Sand the P and K content are medium. All the N, P stones. High level lateritic cappings are also and K content of Attabira Block are medium. The observed in Gandhamardan hills due to bauxite. N and P content of Bheden Block are medium The laterite and lateritic soils are very low in cation whereas the K content is high. exchange capacity (CEC), very high in phosphate References fixing capacity. 1. Buol, S.W.; Hole, F.B. and McCracken, R.J. 3. Alluvial soils (1980). Soil Genesis and Classification. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. New Delhi. Alluvial soils are observed in limited areas 2. Jenny, H. (`1941). Factors of Soil Formation, a of the district mostly occurring in levees of river System of Quantitative Pedology, McGraw Hill Mahanadi (Nanda and Mishra, 1982) and its Book Co. Inc., New York. tributaries such as Jira and Jhaun. Besides localized 3. Mishra, Antaryami (2007). A review on genesis areas along the stream terraces also have stratified and taxonomic classification of soils of Orissa. alluvial material, deposited along the stream banks Orissa Review LXIII (6): 53-56. (Mishra and Nanda, 1984). Such soils are 4. Mishra, Antaryami and Mohapatra, B.P. (1996). Soils of Sambalpur District. Orissa Review, observed more in Bargarh plain because of the LIII(5) : 18-19. low gradient and frequent floods due to shallow 5. Mishra, D.P. (1972). Agroclimatic zones and soils depths of streams. of Orissa. Directorate of Soil Conservation . Government of Orissa. Fertility status of soils of different Blocks of 6. Mishra, D.P. (1985). Soil and Land Irrigability Bargarh district Classification. Directorate of Soil Conservation. Around 58 per cent soils of Bargarh district Govt. of Orissa. 7. Mishra,D.P. (1988). Crop Zones of Sambalpur are acidic, 33 per cent are neutral and only 9 per District, Orissa. Directorate of Agriculture, Govt. cent are alkaline in reaction. The organic carbon of Orissa. and available nitrogen (N) content is medium; the 8. Mishra, D.P. and Nanda, S.S.K. (1984). A system available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) of soil and land irrigability classification for content is also medium. On a Block-wise basis, monsoonic humid and sub-humid regions. J. Indian Soc. Soil Science 32(1): 150-157. the N and P content of Bargarh Block are medium 9. Mishra, D.P. and Nanda, S.S.K. (1984). whereas the available K content is high. The N Characterization of some Entisols of Hirakud content of Bhatli Block is low and the P and K Command Area, Orissa, in relation to Taxonomy. content are medium. All the N, P and K content Andhra Agric. J. 32(2): 141-145. of Sohela Block are medium. The N and P 10. Nanda, S.S.K. and Mishra, D.P. (1982). content of Paikmal Block are medium whereas Characterization of some Haplustalfs and Paleustalfs in Hirakud Command Area. Andhra the K content is high. The N content of Jharbandh Agric. J. 29(2 and 3): 132-136. Block is medium, the P content is low and K 11.