Land Evaluation of Dotikol Micro-Watershed in North-Eastern Transition Zone of Karnataka

A study was undertaken to evaluate nine soil series belonging to Dotikol micro-watershed in Kalaburagi district in North-Eastern Transition Zone of Karnataka for sustainable land use planning. The soil series were Chimmanboda (CMB), Chimmanchod (CMH), Chincholi (CNL), Dotikol (DTK), Hasiragundgi (HGD), Karakmukali (KKK), Narnal (NNL), Rummanguda (RMG) and Ranapur (RNP) mapped into twenty mapping units and soil map was generated using GIS technique. The soils were evaluated for land capability classification, and categorized as land capability classes III, IV and VI based on limitations of erosion, drainage and physicochemical properties. Soil-site suitability assessment reveals that lowland and midland are moderately suitable (S2) for cultivation of field crops like sorghum, red gram, green gram, bengal gram, black gram and soybean with moderate limitations of drainage and fertility, while upland area is marginally suitable (S3) for cultivation of these crops. The uplands are not suitable (N) for horticultural crops like mango, guava, sapota, custard apple and jamun, because of severe limitation of depth. Whereas, lowland and midland, with moderate limitations of rooting depth and texture are moderately suitable (S2) for these crops.