Social Science 2 Marks Each

Desert soil is found in Rajasthan, Haryana and the dry area of southern Punjab. It is found in Kachchh and Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

• Such soil is found in the area having dry and semi-dry climate.
• It is sandy and is less fertile.
• There is an excess of saline contents in some area and is deficient in biotic elements.
• Crops of jowar and millet are grown where irrigation facility is available.

• Black soil has the property to hold moisture for a long time.
• In the rainy season, black soil becomes sticky and soil wet. While in summer, the upper layer of black soil becomes dry.
• The soil starts cracking in summer and hence it ploughs itself naturally.
• Such soil is favourable for growing cotton.
• Therefore, black soil is called soil of cotton.

• The black soil has the ability to hold moisture for a long time.
• In the rainy season, black soil becomes sticky and wet and so it becomes diffic to plough it .
• In summer, the upper layer of black soil becomes dry and starts cracking.
• Eventually, these cracks become large and deep.
• Thus, due to such properties of black soil, it is called self-ploughing.

Resources are needed by human beings to satisfy their wants.

• However, the resources are limited and human needs are unlimited.
• With development of science and technology and increase in population, the resources are being exploited and are getting exhausted.
• It is our duty to rationally use the resources and conserve them for the future generations.

Removal of soil from one place to another by some natural agent is called soil erosion.

• It is caused by running water and wind.
• It takes many years for the formation of soil in which crops grow.
• If this soil is eroded the agricultural production decreases.
• This will affect the economic condition of farmers, food production and agro-based industries.

Soil erosion reduces the fertility and makes the land useless for agriculture.

• In deserts, the winds carry with them a lot of sand and deposit them in other areas.
• In order to reduce this spread of deserts the stabilization of sand dunes can be done by growing thorny bushes and trees at the edge of the deserts.
• On the mountains the land gets eroded due to flowing water and landslides, this can be reduced by constructing small bunds and planting trees on the slopes.

This type of soil is seen in the area where the climate is arid or semi-arid.

• The soil is sandy and infertile.
• It contains salt and lacks humus.
• Rajasthan, parts of Haryana and Southern Punjab have this type of soil.
• In Gujarat it is found in Kutch and some parts of Saurashtra.
• With irrigation facilities, crops like millet and jowar can be cultivated in this soil.

The name of this soil comes from the Latin word "Later" which means a brick.

• It is red in colour due to the presence of iron oxide.
• When this soil is wet it is smooth like butter and when it dries it becomes very hard.
• It is formed due to the dry and moist climate and due to the poor silica in the soil.
• This soil contains more of potash, iron and aluminum.
• The soil is less fertile but if fertilizers are used cotton, paddy, ragi, sugarcane, tea, coffee, cashew can be grown.