Soil Characteristics of Casuarina, Eucalyptus, Melia and Teak Plantations in Tamil Nadu, India

Soil is the major source of nutrients for the growth of plants and determining the degree of soil physicochemical characteristics are very necessary to evaluate the soil fertility. The present investigation was conducted to study the soil properties of important plantations in the Cauvery delta zone of Tamil Nadu. The tree species selected for the study were Casuarina, Eucalyptus, Melia and Teak. Composite soil samples were collected from the selected plantations at three different depths; i.e., 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm. The maximum OC (0.69 %) was recorded in Casuarina clonal plantation (CH-5) of > 5 years at 0-15 cm depth. The mean soil pH in selected plantations of the Cauvery delta zone varied from 5.96 ± 0.08 to 7.40 ± 0.08. Nitrogen availability (307.57 kg ha-1) and potassium availability (339.57 kg ha-1) was maximum in >5 years of Casuarina clonal plantation (CH-5). The available phosphorus content was high in the surface soils (0-15 cm) of >6 years of E. camaldulensis (26.31 kg ha-1). The study has contributed to the understanding of the soil properties in different plantation species of clonal and seedling origin in Tamil Nadu.