EST 2107: Soil Environment

Course Number: EST 2107 Course Title: Soil Environment Credit: 3 [3 hours per week for a period of 13 (3X13 hours) weeks] 1. Soil as a medium for plant growth: factors of plant growth, plant roots and soil relations ; soil fertility and soil productivity 2. Soil as a natural body: the parent material of soil ; soil formation; soils as natural bodies 3. Soil physical propertie: soil texture; soil structure; soil consistence; density and weight relationships; soil pore space and porosity; soil color; soil temperature 4. Soil water and management: soil water energy continuum; energy and pressure relationships; the soil water potential; soil water movement; plant and soil water relations; soil water regime; water conservation; soil drainage; irrigation 5. Soil chemistry: chemical composition of soils; ion exchange; soil pH ; significance of soil pH , management of soil pH; the liming equation and soil buffering ; soil acidulation 6. Soil erosion and conservation: predicting erosion rates on agricultural land; application of the soil-loss equation; the soil loss tolerance value; water erosion on urban lands; wind erosion; factors affecting wind erosion 7. Soil nutirent and fertilizer: the organic matter in ecosystems; chemical and mineralogical composition of the earth's crust; soil macronutrient and micronutrients; plant nutrient relationship; fertilizer; soil fertility evaluation and fertilizer use 8. Soil taxonomy: diagnostic surface horizons; diagnostic subsurface horizons; soil moisture regimes; categories of soil taxonomy; the abac soils; the pedon; classification of soils of bangladesh and their correlation with other systems of classifications; nutrient status of soils of bangladesh.

Recommended References: Henry D. Foth (1990). Fundamentals of Soil Science. 8th ed. John Wileys & Sons. Brady & Weil (2008). The Nature and Properties of Soils. 14th ed. Prentice Hall. Brammer H (1996), The Geography of the soils of Bangladesh. University Press Ltd, Dhaka