Evaluation of Soil Chemical Properties and Organic Carbon along the Distance Gradient from Sea Coast in Coastal Soils of Northern Saurashtra Region of Gujarat

Aims: In present time, salinity and alkalinity of the soils are serious problems in India as well as in Gujarat. These soils are usually supposed to be originated as a result of high water table, arid and semi-arid weather, ingress the sea, water, saline nature of barren materials, poor drainage and salt deposition through wind-blown particles. The current study aimed to study the soil chemical properties and organic carbon in soils of Northern Saurashtra coastal region (Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar district) of Gujarat.

Study Design: Field survey and laboratory analysis

Place and Duration of Study: The twenty surface soil samples were collected from each taluka viz. Jodiya, Jamnagar and Lalpur talukas of Jamnagar district, Khambhalia, Dwarka and Kalyanpur talukas of Devbhumi Dwarka district and Porbandar taluka of Porbandar district of Northern Saurashtra Coastal region of Gujarat during May, 2019 and analysed in laboratory of Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, JAU, Junagadh (Gujarat) during 2019-2021.

Methodology: In this field-laboratory investigation, 141 grid-based surface (0-15 cm) soil samples were collected from farmer’s field, through the use of GPS at the distance of 0-5, 5-10, 10-15 and 15-20 km from coastal line and analysed for different chemical properties. Sampling sites were selected based on geographical situation, climate and local data of taluka. In laboratory, the collected samples were analysed for SOC, EC2.5, CaCO3, CEC and water-soluble ions.

Results: On the basis of analyzed data, it can be concluded that soil EC2.5 was found beyond to its critical or marginal limit up to 0 to 5 km distance from sea coast. The soil organic carbon status of Northern Saurashtra coastal region was found in medium (5.14 g kg-1) category. The soils are calcareous in nature (CaCO3 121.20 g kg-1) with alkaline in reaction (pH2.5 7.58).

Conclusion: The EC2.5, CaCO3, CEC and water-soluble ions except K+ were decreased, while pH2.5 and SOC were slightly increased with increasing the distance from sea coast. The content of organic carbon in soil was noted below to its critical limit up to 10 km distance from sea coast in Northern Saurashtra which might be due to salinity hazard and shallow light texture.