UPSC · Prelims and Mains
Indian and World Geography
← India: natural vegetation and soilsSoil types of India
- ICAR eight soil groups and the older genetic classification
- Alluvial soil: khadar and bhangar, northern plains and deltas, potash-rich, phosphorus-poor
- Black (regur) cotton soil: weathering of Deccan Trap basalt, clayey, self-ploughing cracks, moisture retention; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana
- Red and yellow soil: crystalline igneous rocks, iron diffusion, eastern and southern Peninsula
- Laterite soil: intense leaching in high temperature and rain, red colour, poor in nitrogen and potash, humus-poor; cashew, tapioca, tea and coffee; Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Meghalaya
- Arid saline peaty forest soils
