COURSE CODE : SOIL 100

COURSE TITLE : Principles of Soil Science

COURSE DESCRIPTION : Nature, Properties and
Management
CREDIT UNIT : 3 units
CONTACT HOURS : 5 hours per week (2 hours l
lecture and 3 hours laboratory)
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of the course, the students are expected to:
• Present a unified view of the soil as a medium for plant
growth and as a natural resource;
• Develop skills in problem solving that requires the use of
numerical data obtained from physical, chemical and
biological experiments involving the soil.
• Provide basic information about the role of plant nutrients
and diagnose soil problems associated with poor plant
growth;
• Apply the principles of soil management in the control of soil
fertility, soil pH, and soil erosion; and
• Interpret soil survey report.
COURSE CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION
1. History of BASC.
2. Vision, Mission, Goals.
3. Orientation and discussion about the course.

B. INTRODUCTION TO SOIL SCIENCE

1. Soil – interface of systems

C. DEFINITION AND COMPOSITION OF SOIL

1. Soil Defined: Edaphological and Pedological
2. Fields of Specification in Soil Science
3. Composition of the Soil
a. Mineral Matter
b. Organic Matter
c. Water
d. Air
 COURSE CONTENTS
4. Composition of the Mineral Matter
a. Three major fractions: sand, silt, and clay
b. The clay fraction: crystalline and non-crystalline components
5. Elemental Composition of the Earth’s Crust
6. The Essential Nutrient Elements
a. Macro and Micronutrients
b. Criteria of Essentiality
c. Ionic forms of nutrients
7. Soil Formation and Development
a. Soil Forming Rocks and Minerals
i. Rocks and Minerals definition
ii. Classes of Rocks; Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic
iii. Mode of Formation of Igneous Rocks: Intrusive and Extrusive
iv. Other points of differences of igneous rocks; texture, color, acidity
v. Examples of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
vi. Primary vs. secondary minerals and examples of each class
COURSE CONTENTS
b. Weathering
i. Definition
ii. Physical weathering; exfoliation and crackling due to
temperature changes, crystal growth, abrasion, movement of
earth’s crust, prying action of roots
iii. Chemical weathering; hydrolysis, hydration, oxidation,
carbonation, solution
c. Soil Formation
i. Factors of Soil Formation; Climate, organism, relief, parent
material, time
d. Soil Development
i. Pedogenic process; addition, losses, translocation in the soil
body
e. The Soil Profile
 COURSE CONTENTS
D. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS
1. Definition of physical properties
a. Texture, structure, bulk density, particle
density, porosity, water holding capacity,
hydraulic conductivity, consistency and color
2. Soil Color
3. Soil Texture
4. Soil Structure
5. Soil Density
6. Soil Water
7. Soil Consistency
 COURSE CONTENTS
E. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS
1. Soil colloids
2. Silicate clays
a. Basic Structural Units
b. Properties
c. Sources of Negative Charges
3. Organic Colloids
4. Factors Affecting strength of ions in the soil colloids.
5. Cation Exchange Capacity
6. Base saturation and Exchangeable Sodium Percentage
7. Soil pH
8. Liming
9. Soil Salinity and sodicity
 COURSE CONTENTS
F. SOIL ORGANISM AND ORGANIC MATTER
1. Kinds of soil organism
2. Bacteria: characteristics and classification
3. Actinomycetes
4. Fungi
5. Other organism
6. Beneficial activities of organisms
a. decomposition of organic matter
b. transformation of soil nutrient
c. promoting soil aggregation through by-products of their activities
d. Nitrogen fixation and Phosphorus solubisation
i. Composition of Organic Matter
ii. Organic Matter decomposition and end Products
7. Transformation of Nitrogen
a. Mineralization, ammonification, nitrification, denitrification,
immobilization, ammonia volatilization, and leaching
 COURSE CONTENTS
G. NATURE, PROPERTIES, AND MANAGEMENT OF SOILS
1. Definition
2. Essential Nutrients
a. Criteria of Essentiality
b. Available Forms and Functions of Nutrients in
plants.
c. Methods of assessing soil fertility status
d. Fertilizer Nutrients
e. Fertilizer computation
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Grade will be computed based on the following criteria:
Lecture - 60%
- Long term examinations (Prelim, Midterm, and Final) –
60%
- Quizzes – 10%
- Recitation – 15%
- Assignments – 10%
- Attendance – 5%
Laboratory - 40%
- Laboratory Reports - 40%
- Examinations – 30%
- Reports/participation– 30%
CLASS POLICIES, RULES, AND REGULATIONS
• Students with VALID ID and prescribed uniform shall be
accepted in the class.
• Earrings and caps are NOT ALLOWED to be worn by male
students inside the classroom.
• Attendance shall be strictly monitored.
• Attending classes on time.
• Proper discipline must be observed.
• Students who will be caught cheating during the examination
shall be given the grade of 5.0 on such particular examinations.
• Students must present EXAMINATION PERMIT during major
examination.
• Submission of requirement on time.
CONSULTATION HOURS
Tuesday/8:00 – 12:00
 BASC HISTORY
Date Name
1952 Plaridel Community Agricultural High School
(PCAHS)
Bulacan Provincial Agricultural High School
(BPAHS)
20 June 1953 Bulacan National Agricultural High School
(BNAHS)
21 June 1959 Bulacan National Agricultural School (BuNAS)
24 February 1998 Bulacan National Agricultural State College
(BNASC)
19 February 2004 Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC)
 VISION
The Bulacan Agricultural State College as an outstanding
higher education institution in the nation with its provision of
excellent education.
MISSION
The Bulacan Agricultural State College shall strive for
excellence in Agriculture, and other allied disciplines. It shall
provide for the address ever-changing education need and
services for those seeking to expand their intellectual horizons. It
shall address national and international issues and be
established as a major presence and contributor to the progress
of the global community.
 INSTITUTE GOAL
(Institute of Agriculture)
To continuously and consistently produce
Agriculture graduate who are competent and
capable for the domestic and global challenge in
the field of Agriculture.
INTRODUCTION TO
SOIL SCIENCE
SOIL – INTERFACE OF SYSTEMS

ATMOSPHERE BIOSPHERE

PEDOSPHERE

HYDROSPHERE LITHOSPHERE
 Atmosphere
a gaseous envelope
that surrounds a material of
sufficient mass and is held in
place by gravity.
it is where climate and
weather take place.
(Exosphere,
Thermosphere, Mesosphere,
Stratosphere, Troposphere)
 Biosphere
made up of the parts
of Earth where life exists.
The biosphere extends
from the deepest root
systems of trees to the
dark environment of
ocean trenches, to lush
rain forests and high
mountaintops.
 Hydrosphere
discontinuous layer
of water at or near Earth’s
surface. It includes all liquid
and frozen surface
waters, groundwater held
in soil and rock, and
atmospheric water vapor.
 Lithosphere
is the solid, outer
part of the Earth,
including the brittle
upper portion of the
mantle and the crust.
DEFINITION AND
COMPOSITION
OF SOIL
 SOIL DEFINITION
• Natural dynamic body composed of
minerals and organic materials and living
forms in which plants grow (Brady and Weil,
1999).
• Natural body synthesized in a profile form
from a variable mixture of broken and
weathered minerals and decaying organic
matter which covers the earth in a thin layer.
 Agricultural Definition
"a dynamic natural body on the surface of the
earth in which plants grow, composed of
mineral and organic materials and living
forms“ (Brady, 1974)
 Engineering Definition
"all the fragmented mineral material at or near
the surface of the earth, the moon, or other
planetary body, plus the air, water, organic
matter, and other substances which may be
included therein" (Spangler and Handy, 1982)
 Geological Definitions
• depend on the interest of the geologist
• "Hard rock" geologists tend to view soil as
regolith, employing the engineering definition.
• Geomorphologists, however, are interested in
soil forming processes and adopt definitions
and classification systems developed primarily
for agriculturists.
Functions of Soil
1) Soil supports the growth of
plants
2) Soil properties are the
principal factor controlling the
fate of water in the hydrologic
system
3) Soil functions as nature’s
recycling system
4) Soil provides a habitat for the
soil organisms
5) Soil is an engineering medium
 SOIL COMPOSITION
FOUR MAJOR
CONSTITUENTS

1. mineral matter
2. organic matter
3. soil solution
4. soil air
SOIL COMPOSITION | SOLID PHASE
1. MINERAL MATTER
Consists of primary materials (the original
minerals in the parent rock) and secondary
minerals (those synthesized during the process
of soil formation)
• Primary minerals occur mostly in the coarser
fractions: rocks, gravels, sands and silts.
• Secondary minerals dominate in the clay
fraction.
 MINERALS
 naturally occurring inorganic substance(s) which has fairly definite chemical composition and definite
physical properties.

• Primary Minerals
– minerals that persist from original rocks and appear
prominently in the soil. These are the primary materials, the
original minerals in the parent rock. These occur mostly in
the coarser fractions: rocks, gravels, sands and silts.
• Secondary Minerals
– minerals which originate from the chemical weathering of
the least resistant primary minerals. Secondary minerals are
those synthesized during the process of soil formation.
These minerals dominate in the clay fraction or structure.
SOIL COMPOSITION | SOLID PHASE
SOIL COMPOSITION | SOLID PHASE
2. ORGANIC MATTER
• 2 to 5% in most mineral soils
• Extremely complex material which
probably contains the rest of the organic
compounds found in nature
SOIL COMPOSITION | SOLID PHASE
SOIL COMPOSITION | LIQUID PHASE
1. SOIL SOLUTION
• mainly water solution as salts and gases
• concentration of salts usually ranges from
100 to 1000 ppms, of dry soil
• Sulfates, chlorides and bicarbonates of Ca,
Mg, K and Na are present
SOIL COMPOSITION | LIQUID PHASE
SOIL COMPOSITION | GASEOUS PHASE
1. SOIL AIR
• air is needed in the soil for root respiration as
well as the activity of microorganisms in soil
• Soil texture, structure, porosity, etc affects
aeration
SOIL COMPOSITION | GASEOUS PHASE
SOIL SCIENCE
Branch of science that deals with the
scientific study of the soil –its genesis or
origin, formation and development,
characteristics or properties, functions in
relation to crop production and other
uses, problems, protection, conservation
and classification
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Fertility is the study of the capacity of
the soil to supply nutrient elements to
plants. It deals with the form, amount,
transformations, and availability of plant
nutrients that are essential for plant
growth.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Physics is the study of the
physical nature of the soil, its
characteristics, properties, and/or
reactions which are caused by
physical forces.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Chemistry is the study of the chemical
properties of the soil, the original rocks and
minerals that constitute the parent materials
from which soils come from, their chemical
nature, and reactions, and the description of
the chemical processes that transform nutrient
elements in the soil and in the soil solution.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Microbiology is the study of the
microorganisms living in the soil, the
characteristics of the different groups of
microorganisms and their role in the
physical and biochemical changes
occurring in the soil.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Conservation and Management is
the study of how to protect the soil from
degradation brought about by soil
erosion, crop removal, chemical
deterioration and other cultivation
practices that affect the fertility and
productivity of the soil.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Soil Survey and Classification is the
study of the physical, chemical, and
biological characteristics of the soil,
its profile and horizons, their origin,
formation, and development and
taxonomic classification.
 FIELDS OF SOIL SCIENCE
Land Use is the study of the patterns of
utilization and/or allocation of lands for
general or specific purpose such as
agriculture, forestry, built-up or
settlement, wetlands, barelands,
grasslands, orchards and others.