Organic matter in soil
- August 14, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: Agriculture
Context:
Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh soils are degraded and depleted because ‘organic matter’ is quite below (0.5-0.2 per cent).
Concept:
- Organic matter is the very foundation of good soil health. It consists of plants, animal material which gets converted into humus after decomposing.
- It improves soil quality and fertility.
- It supplies nutrients, increases water-holding capacity, prevents soil erosion. Supplication of organic matter into the soil decreases with frequent tilling of the land.
- While PAU said that .75 per cent organic matter in the soil is sufficient, Punjab agriculture department said it should be at least 1 per cent. International standards suggest having around 2-3 per cent in the soil.