TAMIL NADU AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture/ B.Sc. (Hons.) Horticulture Degree Programme

Mid Semester Examination, November - 2022
Year : I (2017 Syllabus) Time : 1 hr
Semester : II Max. Marks: 20
SAC 202 Problem Soils and their Management 2+0
PART - A
(Answer All questions) [30 x 0.5 = 15]
Multiple Choice Questions (Bold the Correct Answer)

A1. Who defined the term Soil quality? ____________

A) Jenny B) Doran and Parkin
C) Joffer D) Dokuchaev

A2. ________ may be obtained from observation or photographic interpretation.

A) Visual indicators B) Physical Indicators
C) Chemical Indicators D) Biological Indicators.

A3. National Wasteland Development Board was established in

A) 1978 B) 1975
C) 1985 D) 1982

A4. Lands which cannot be developed for vegetative cover are called as _______
A) Culturable wastelands B) Unculturable wastelands
C) Degraded land D) None of the above

A5. In India, which state is having the larger area of wasteland _________
A) Rajasthan B) Gujarat
C) Uttar pradesh. D) Madhya Pradesh

A6. Surface crusing mostly prevalent in

A) Alluvial soil B) Black soil
C) Red soil D) Peaty soil

A7. Slow permeable soils are having infiltration rates

A) <6 mm/day B) <6 cm/day
C) >6 mm/day D) >6 cm/day

A8. Sub soil hard pan which increases the soils bulk density to
A) >1.5 Mg m-3 B) >1.4 Mg m-3
-3
C) >1.8 Mg m D) >1.6 Mg m-3

A9. A special type of red sandy dunal soils found in Tamil Nadu is called as ___soils

A) Terai soils B) Theri soils

C) Marshy soils D) Saline soils

A10. Sinking of draught animals and labourers is one of the problem in

A) Surface crusting B) Slow permeable soils
C) Excessive permeable soils D) Fluffy paddy soils

A11. Name the artificial soil conditioner used to control soil crusting

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 A) Polyvinyl alcohol B) Acetic acid
C) Acroline D) Elemental sulphur

A12. Which is first stage of erosion

A) Rill erosion B) Splash erosion
C) Ravine erosion D) Gully erosion

A13. Which stage erosion cause small finger like rills under landscape
A) Rill erosion B) Splash erosion
C) Ravine erosion D) Gully erosion

A14. Central soil and water conservation and training institute (CSWCTI) is situated
at
A) Karnal B) Dehradun
C) Bhopal D) Kanpur

A15. Universal soil loss equation

A) A = RKLSCP B) A = RKTSCP
C) A = RKLSMP D) A = RVLSCP

A16. ________ soils are completely saturated with water for long time and give
distinctive gley horizons resulting from oxidation and reduction
A) Acid sulphate soil B) Submerged soil
C) Sodic soil D) Saline soil

A17. ___________ are termed as base unsaturated soils which has got enough of
adsorbed exchangeable H+ ions
A) Acid soil B) Saline soil
C) Acid sulphate soil D) Sodic soil

A18. Acid soils are largely dominated by

A) H+ and Al3+ ions B) Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions
C) MoO42- and BO33- ions D) Zn2+ and Cu2+ ions

A19. Acid sulphate soils found with dissolved or free acidic substances like
A) H2SO4 B) Al (SO4)3
C) Fe2 (SO4)3 D) All of these

A20. The problem of soil acidity is more prevalent in the regions of ________
A) Low rainfall Zone B) High rainfall zone
C) Arid Zone D) Semi-arid zone

A21. Acid sulphate soils are otherwise called as_________

A) White clay B) Black clay
C) Cat clays D) China clay

A22. Due to the toxic effect of Fe2+ and Mn2+ ions, a physiological disease of rice
found in submerged soils is known as -_____________
A) Root rot B) Browning disease
C) Blight disease D) Itai Itai

A23. Acid sulphate soil have an pH of

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 A) 8.5 B) 6.5
C) 4 D) 7.5

A24. Which of the following is the characteristic of saline soil

A) EC >4dsm-1, ESP <15, pH <8.5 B) EC >4dsm-1, ESP >15, pH <8.5
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C) EC >4dsm , ESP >15, pH >8.5 D) None of the above

A25. Saline and Alkaline soils are mostly found in

A) Arid and Semi arid region B) Humid
C) Temperate D) All of the above

A26. The saline soils are otherwise called as ___________

A) Solonetz B) Solonochak
C) Sodic soil D) Solod

A27. Which of the following chemical is used for reclamation of saline and alkaline
soil
A) Gypsum B) Phosphogypsum
C) Elemental sulphur D) All the above

A28. Soils have ESP>15, pH of the surface horizon is acidic in nature and there is no
precipitate CaCO3 is called as
A) White alkali B) Degraded alkali
C) Brown alkali D) Black alkali

A29. The formula to calculate SAR (Sodium absorption Ratio)___________

Na+ ( Na+)2
A) √Ca2+ + Mg2+ B) √Ca2+ + Mg2+
2 2

Na+ None
C) Ca + Mg2+
2+
D)
2

A30. Saline soils with high proportion of nitrate salts

A) Brown alkali B) Black alkali
C) White alkali D) Degraded alkali

PART - B
(Answer any Five questions only) [5 x 1 = 5]
B1. Write about Soil Health Assessment

B2. Write about Categories of Wastelands

B3. Write about Fluffy paddy soil and management

B4. Write about kinds of soil acidity

B5. Write about saline and saline sodic soils

B6. Define soil crusting

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 *******

1. Write about Soil Health Assessment

Soil Quality Indicator
A series of information sheets for physical, chemical and biological indicators
is available to help conservationists and soil scientists with soil health assessment.
Factors affecting, relationship to soil function, methods for improvement, and
measurement options are discussed for each topic.
Physical Properties
 Aggregate Stability
 Available Water Capacity
 Bulk Density
 Infiltration
 Slaking
 Soil Crusts
 Soil Structure and Macropores
Chemical Properties
 Chemical Indicators – Overview
 Reactive Carbon
 Soil Electrical Conductivity
 Soil Nitrate
 Soil pH
Biological Properties
 Biological Indicators – Overview
 Earthworms
 Particulate Organic Matter
 Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen
 Soil Enzymes
 Soil Respiration
 Total Organic Carbon

2. Write about Categories of Wastelands

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wastelands
Wastelands are the lands which are degraded and presently lying unutilized
except as current fallows due to different constrains of varying degrees. National
wasteland Development Board has broadly classified the wastelands into two
categories: (i) cultivable wastelands and (ii) uncultivable wastelands. Cultivable
wastelands are the lands which are capable or have the potential for the
development of vegetative cover and are not being used due to different constraints
of varying degrees. The uncultivable wastelands that can not be under vegetative
cover
3. Write about Fluffy paddy soil and management
The traditional method of preparing the soil for transplanting rice consists of
puddling, which substantially breaks soil aggregates into a uniform structure-less
mass. Under continuous flooding and submergence of soil for rice cultivation in a
cropping sequence of rice-rice-rice, the soil particles are always in a state of flux and
the mechanical strength is lost leading to the fluffiness of soils. Impact of fluffiness is
sinking of drought animals and labourers during puddling. This has been thus, an
invisible drain of finance for farmers due to high pulling power needed for bullocks
and slow movement of labourers during puddling operations. Further fluffiness of the
soil lead to very low bulk density and thereby leading to very rapid hydraulic
conductivity and in turn the soil does not provide a good anchorage to the roots and
the potential yield of crops is also adversely affected.
Management
Following practices are adopted to overcome this problem.
 The irrigation should be stopped 10 days before the harvest of rice crop.
 After the harvest of rice, when the soil is under semi-dry condition, compact
the field by passing 400 kg stone roller or tar drum filled with 400 kg of sand
for 8 times.
 The usual preparatory cultivation is carried out after compaction.
4. Write about kinds of soil acidity
Soil acidity may be of the following two kinds
(i) Active acidity
It is defined as the acidity that develops due to hydrogen (H +) and aluminium
(Al3+) ions in the soil solution. The magnitude of this acidity is limited.
(ii) Exchange acidity

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 It is defined as the acidity that develops due to adsorbed hydrogen (H +) and
Aluminium (Al3+) ions on the soil colloids. The magnitude of this acidity is very high. It
is also called potential / reserve acidity.
(iii) Total acidity
The summation of active and exchange acidity is called total acidity.
Total acidity = Active acidity + Exchange acidity.
5. Write about saline and saline sodic soils
Saline soil
The process by which the saline soil is formed is called Salinization. Saline
soils occur mostly in arid or semi-arid regions. Saline soils are practically non-
existent in humid regions except when the soil has been subjected to sea water in
river deltas and low lying lands near the sea.
Saline Sodic Soils
Soils are said to be saline if they contain an excess of soluble salts and sodic
or alkaline if they contain an excess of sodium. Soils are said to be saline-sodic or
saline-alkali if they contain appreciable amounts of both soluble salts and sodium.
6. Define soil crusting
Surface soil crusting is due to presence of colloidal oxides of iron and
Aluminium in Alfisols which binds the soil particles under wet regimes. On drying it
forms a hard mass on the surface. The ill effects of surface crusting are
1. Prevents germination of seeds
2. Retards/inhibits root growth.
3. Results in poor infiltration.
4. Accelerates surface run off
5. Creates poor aeration in rhizosphere
6. Affects nodules formation in leguminous crops