This book ‘Soil Health and Irrigation Water Management’ is compiled aiming the needs of Soil science and Agronomy knowledge in the courses of BSc. (Ag.), BSc. (Hort), BSc. (Ag. Eng), BSc. (Commercial Agriculture) and BSc. (Environment Science) courses. The 6th Deans committee (ICAR) recommendations were adhered in preparing the text. It is aimed at the majority of students, who need to quickly acquire a concise overview of soil and water management. Many current Soil science and Agronomy textbooks may cater for a traditional student market. Students pursuing this type of courses are increasingly reluctant to refer traditional textbooks that are too detailed and often assume a complex information. This text book will be particularly useful for students who do not possess a traditional scientific background in Soil science and Agronomy. For those opting to specialize in Soil science and Agronomy at post graduate level can use it as ready reference. This text book aimed to provide chapter wise information on different concepts of soil science viz., Soil resources, Soil Physical properties, Soil Chemical properties, Soil Biological properties, Soil Organic matter, Soil fertility management, problematic soils management, Soil Degradation, Problematic soils and their management, Soils of India, Irrigation water quality, pollution management, Water resources, Soil-water relations, plant-water relations, measurement of soil water, scheduling of irrigations, management of irrigation water to major crops and agricultural drainage so on. Many chapters were discussed with relevant and abridged tables, figures and equations for easy comprehension of the concept. It is also focused to provide better understanding among the readers on the relationship between soil–water–plant relationships for efficient soil and water management, sustainable cropping and safe environment. This information will be much useful for the learners for overall comprehension of the subject thus may helps in successful attempts of competitive examination, such as JRF, SFR, ASRB, BSRB, FCI and PG entrance examinations of State Agricultural Universities, State Horticultural Universities in the disciplines of Soil Science and Agronomy, besides it is also useful for the ambitious candidates of completive examinations like IFS selection examination conducted by UPSC.
P.S. Brahmanand, MSc (Ag.) Ph.D., Project Director, ICAR-Water Technology Centre, New Delhi is a renowned Agronomist and water management scientist served as a Principal Scientist for 24 years in ICAR-Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubabeswar. Director Research, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar. He was associated with national and international projects in irrigation water management. He has published 95 articles in NAAS rated peer reviewed national and international journals including Nature Communication. He is a member for a dozen national level committees of irrigation water management. Dr. Brahmanand involved in preparation of national level policy papers relating to irrigation water management. He is fellow of Indian Water Resources Society, IIT, Roorkee, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences, AP and National Environmental Science Academy, New Delhi. Dr. Brahmanand is Guinness World Record Holder in Longest Speech Marathon & Guinness World Record Holder in fastest time to identify all elements of periodic table. Dr. Brahmanand is recipient of five national awards (Nanaji Rao Deshmukh, ICAR outstanding team Research Award (twice), Vasant Rao Naik Award from ICAR and Indira Gandhi Rajbhusha Pureskar, (twice) from Ministry of Home Affairs. He is a Principal Investigator of two international collaboractive research projects and ten national collaborative projects. He is instrumental in developing several water management technologies, such as index based flood insurance, post-flood management, yield gap and water productivity atlas of cereals in India. ICAR-Flexi rubber checkdam, integrated rice fish farming, etc.
P. Gurumurthy, MSc (Ag.) Ph.D., Professor & Head, Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural College, Naira, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, had 24 years of teaching and research experience. He has teaching expertise in the Soil Science courses of Soil Physics; Soil Chemistry, Fertility and Nutrient management; Manures, fertilizers and other Agrochemicals; Diagnostic techniques for soil, plant and irrigation waters; Soil survey, Soil Taxonomy and Remote sensing techniques for Undergraduate students and Soil pollution; Problem Soils and their Management; Remotesensing and GIS techniques for soil, water and crop studies; Principles of Laboratory techniques for post-graduate students with passion. Dr. Gurumurthy guided 4 PG students as Chairman of advisory committee and 12 PG students as member of advisory committee. His research specialization is in soil physics, soil health, soil survey & soil taxonomy. He has published six text books, fifty six full length research articles in peered review national and international journals, participated in 22 national/international symposiums/seminars/workshops. He is a member of professional societies viz., Indian Society of Soil Science, Indian society of soil survey and land use planning, the Andhra Agricultural union, Indian society of oil seed research. Dr. Gurumurthy also participated in about a dozen summers/ winter schools thus could update the knowledge in Soil Science. He is recipient of prestigious national level Jawaharlal Nehru award for outstanding post-graduateresearch in 2002, Indian Society of Soil Science (ISSS) Best Doctoral Research Presentation Award in 2001, prestigious State level Best University Teacher Award in 2019, prestigious Ugadi Puraskaram awarded by the Government of undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2013 and state level Padmisri IV SubbaRao-Rytunestam Best Scientist award in 2014 for his overall contributions in the field of Agricultural sciences, particularly in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry.
1 Introduction........................................................................................ 1
2 Soil Properties................................................................................... 23
2.1 Soil Physical Properties ......................................................... 26
2.2 Soil Chemical Properties....................................................... 56
2.3 Soil Biological Properties ...................................................... 90
2.4 Soil Organic Matter .............................................................108
3 Soil Health - Concepts ..................................................................125
4 Soil Health - Constraints and Management .............................145
5 Soil Fertility - Concepts and Management ...............................183
6 Soil Health Degradation and Conservation .............................213
7 Soil Pollution Management .........................................................247
8 Irrigation Water and Its Quality .................................................271
9 Soil-Water Relations ......................................................................311
10 Measurement of Soil Water .........................................................333
11 Plant-Water Relations ...................................................................343
12 Irrigation Requirement of Crops ................................................363
13 Scheduling of Irrigation to Crops ...............................................373
14 Methods of Irrigation ....................................................................387
15 Water Use Efficiency and Irrigation Efficiency .......................403
16 Irrigation Water Management in Major Crops .......................413
17 Agricultural Drainage ..................................................................431
References .......................................................................................439
