Abstract

Soil Texture and Total Organic Matter Content and its Influences on Soil Water Holding Capacity of some Selected Tea Growing Soils in Sivasagar District of Assam, India

Author(s): T. N. Nath

A study was carried out to determine the soil texture and total organic matter content and its influences on soil water holding capacity of some select ed tea growing soils in Sivasagar district of Assam. Thirty composite soil samples were randomly collected from the top soil (0-20 cm) from the ten tea estates. The samples were analysed for texture, total organic matter content and water holding capacity. The textures of the soil samples found to be sandy clay loam and sandy loam. The total organic matter varied from 2.16 to 3.38% with mean value of 2.71%. The water holding capacity ranged from 50.44 to 59.18% with a mean value of 54.41%. The results showed that the soil samples have medium water holding capacity and soil total organic matter was found to be higher. It was concluded that soil texture and soil organic matter content had influence on water holding capacity of the tea cultivated soil. It was suggested that high concentration of organic matter on soil should be incorporated to the soils with improving water holding capacity. A significance positive relationship was observed between water holding capacity with organic matter content and clay, while, a negative relationship was found with sand content.