Soil Management, A New Hope for Lateritic Forests of West Bengal

Abstract

Liming is important for the management of lateritic acid soils, for it has considerable influence on growth of plants and soil environment, besides neutralising soil acidity. In acid soil the availability of Ca⁺², Mg² and P decreases, where as that of Al⁺³, Fe⁺² and Mn⁺² increases. Thus the nutrient availability is closely related to soil p^H. A Glasshouse experiment was carrried out to find out the effect of liming with inorganic fertilizer and organic manure on two forest plant types i.e. Eucalyptus tereticornis and Shorea robusta. As per the preliminary analysis in Glasshouse condition the growth of two plant types was found significant in limed soil with organic manure and inorganic fertilizer. The initial start i.e. both root and shoot development may help for better establishment of forest spp.