Soil properties, land use and livelihood options in salt-affected areas of YSR Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India

A study was conducted to assess the soil properties, land use and livelihood options of salt-affected areas in YSR Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India during 2020. One hundred and fifty-eight soil samples in salt-affected mandals were collected at two depths, viz. 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm at 79 locations. They were analysed for different physical and chemical properties. Sandy loam texture was predominant in 56.96% of samples and 35.44% of subsurface samples. This was followed by sandy clay loam in 18.98% surface and 34.20% subsurface samples. pH2 of soil varied from 7.5 to 10.6 and 7.3 to 10.6 for the surface and subsurface soils respectively. ECe was in the range 0.4 –46.0 dS m–1 in surface soils and 0.4–33.0 dS m–1 in the subsurface soils. Residual sodium carbonate of the surface soils was in the range –63.8 to 47.8 meq/l and it was –51.6 to 68.6 meq/l for subsurface samples. Sodium adsorption ratio ranged from 0.78 to 70.0 on the surface and from 0.52 to 65.3 in subsurface soils. Exchangeable sodium percentage range from 0.9 to 80.5 and 0.6 to 75.1 in the surface and subsurface soil samples respecti­vely. Cation exchange capacity 3.17 to 43.26 cmol (p+) kg–1 characterized surface soils, while values 5.94 to 63.51 cmol (p+) kg–1 characterized subsurface soils. The problem soils, namely saline, saline-alkali and alkali soils, were present under various land-use categories