Quantitative Assessment of Land Suitability in Soils of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in a Toposequence towards Optimizing Climate Resilient Agricultural Land Use Plan

Abstract

Land suitability in soils of North and Middle Andaman district of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been quantitatively assessed in a topographic sequence towards climate resilient land use planning. The soils were of volcanoclastic origin with low bulk density, high silt, clay and fine and very fine sand, which appears to favour nutrient transformation from soils to plant root zone. In hills and uplands Typic Tropudalfs and Typic Eutroperpts were the major soils, whereas, in old alluvial plains, Typic Tropaqualfs and Typic Tropudalfs predominate. Interspersed valleys comprised Typic Tropudalfs and Aqaundic Fluvaquents, whereas, coastal plains encompasses Aqaundic Endoaquepts, Aquandic Endoaualfs and Typic Tropudalfs. Steepness of slope and soil acidity were major constraints for land suitability for crops in hills and uplands, whereas, soil alkalinity and drainage congestions were the major concern in coastal plains. Chitrakut series was identified with poor soil quality index (SQI) (0.49) and low LSI for Rabi crops (12.10-31.94), whereas, Vidyasagar pally, Swadeshnagar, Laxmipur and Madhupur series bestowed with promising opportunity for crop diversification with very good SQI (0.93-0.98) and high land suitability index (LSI) for Rabi crops (64.80-83.22) and horticulture (85.74-92.59). Gobindapur, Jaipur, Ashanagar and Nimbudera series were identified as promising soils for horticulture with moderate SQI (0.70-0.76) and moderate to high LSI (62.14 to 85.74). Coastal plains appears to be the environmentally most vulnerable zone in the Islands, which needs urgent attention for mangrove rejuvenation.