Daily Discussion (DD) Video Series - Soil Science for NET, ARS, STO(T-6), JRF-SRF
With Syllabus for NET / ARS / STO(T-6) / SRF (PhD)
Soil Science ( Discipline Code - 45)
Highlights
Unit 1 : Pedology
Unit 2: Soil Physics
Unit 3: Soil Chemistry
Unit 4: Soil Fertility
Unit 5: Soil Microbiology
Unit 6: Statistics
Unit 1: Pedology
- Concept of land, soil and
soil science. (Watch Video Free) (Download PPT PDF)
- Composition of earth
crust and its relationship with soils.
- Rocks, minerals and other
soil forming materials.
- Weathering of rocks and
minerals.
- Factors of soil
formation.
- Pedogenic processes and
their relationships with soil properties.
- Soil development
- Pedon, polypedon, soil
profile, horizons and their nomenclature.
- Soil Taxonomy -
epipedons, diagnostic subsurface horizons and other diagnostic
characteristics.
- Soil moisture and
temperature regimes, categories of the system and their criteria.
- Interpretation of soil
survey data for land capability and crop suitability
classifications.
- Macro-morphological study
of soils.
- Application and use of
global positioning system for soil survey.
- Soil survey- types,
techniques.
- Soil series
characterization and procedure for establishing soil series, benchmark
soils and soil correlations.
- Study of base maps:
cadastral maps, toposheets, aerial photographs and satellite
imageries.
- Use of geographical
information systems for preparing thematic maps.
- Application of Remote
Sensing in soil survey and mapping.
Unit 2: Soil Physics
- Soil physical constraints
affecting crop production.
- Soil texture – textural
classes.
- Soil structure –
classification, soil aggregation and significance.
- Soil consistency
- Soil crusting
- Bulk density and particle
density of soils
- Porosity, their significance
and manipulation.
- Soil water - retention
and potentials.
- Soil moisture
constants.
- Movement of soil water -
infiltration, percolation, permeability, drainage
- Methods of determination
of soil moisture
- Darcy’s law.
- Thermal properties of
soils, Soil temperature
- Soil air - composition,
gaseous exchange
- Influence of soil
temperature and air on plant growth.
- Soil erosion by water -
types, effects, mechanics.
- Rain erosivity and soil
erodibility.
- Runoff - methods of
measurement, factors and management, runoff farming.
- Soil conservation
measures.
- Characterization and
evaluation of soil and land quality indicators
- Causes of land
degradation
- Management of soil
physical properties for prevention/restoration of land degradation
Identification, monitoring and management of waste lands
- Land use - land cover
mapping and land use planning using conventional and remote sensing
techniques
- Concept of watershed -
its characterization and management.
Unit 3: Soil Chemistry
- Chemical composition of
soil
- Soil colloids -
structure, composition, constitution of clay minerals, amorphous clays and
other non-crystalline silicate minerals, oxide and hydroxide minerals
- Charge development on
clays and organic matter
- pH-charge relations
- Buffer capacity of
soils.
- Elements of equilibrium
thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, electrochemistry and chemical
kinetics.
- Inorganic and organic
colloids- surface charge characteristics, diffuse double layer theories,
zeta potential stability, coagulation/ flocculation, peptization,
electrometric and sorption properties of soil colloid.
- Soil organic matter
fractionation, clay-organic interactions.
- Cation exchange-
theories, adsorption isotherms,
- Donnan-membrane
equilibrium concept
- Clay-membrane electrodes
and ionic activity measurement
- Thermodynamics, anion and
ligand exchange- inner sphere and outer-sphere surface complex
formation,
- Fixation of oxyanions ,
hysteresis in sorption-desorption of oxy-anions and anions.
- Nitrogen, potassium,
phosphate and ammonium fixation in soils and management aspects.
- Chemistry of acid,
salt-affected and submerged soils and management aspects.
Unit 4: Soil Fertility
- Essential elements in
plant nutrition
- Nutrient cycles in
soil
- Transformation and
transport of nutrients (Macro and micro nutrients) in soil
- Manures and
fertilizers
- Fate and reactions of
fertilizers in soils
- Chemistry of production
of different fertilizers
- Slow release fertilizers
and nitrification retarders
- Quality control of
fertilizers.
- Soil fertility
evaluation- soil testing, plant and tissue tests and biological
methods
- Common soil test methods
for fertilizer recommendation
- Soil test-crop response
correlations
- Integrated nutrient
management
- Use of isotopic tracers
in soil research
- Nature, properties and
development of acid, acid sulphate, saline and alkali and their
management
- Lime and gypsum
requirements of soils
- Irrigation water quality
- EC, SAR, RSC and specifications.
- Fertility status of major
soil groups of India.
- Application of Remote
Sensing in Soil fertility mapping, Watershed management, Degraded land and
soil erosion studies.
- Remote sensing and GIS in
Carbon sequestration studies.
- Pollution: types, causes,
methods of measurement, standards and management.
- Heavy metal toxicity and
soil pollution
- Chemical and
bio-remediation of contaminated soils
- Soil factors in emission
of greenhouse gases
- Carbon sequestration in
mitigating greenhouse effect
- Radio-active
contamination of soil.
Unit 5: Soil Microbiology
- Soil biota, soil
microbial ecology, types of organisms.
- Soil microbial biomass,
microbial interactions, unculturable soil biota.
- Microbiology and
biochemistry of root-soil interface.
- Phyllosphere.
- Soil enzymes, origin,
activities and importance.
- Soil characteristics
influence growth and activity of microflora.
- Microbial transformations
of N, P, K, S, Fe and Zn in soil.
- Biochemical composition
and biodegradation of soil organic matter and crop residues.
- Humus formation.
- Cycles of important
organic nutrients.
- Biodegradation of pesticides,
organic wastes and their use for production of biogas and manures.
- Biofertilizers -
definition, classification, specifications, method of production and role
in crop production.
- Methods of soil analysis
- particle size distribution, bulk and particle density, moisture
constants
- Modern methods of soil,
plant and fertilizer analysis
- Flame photometry and
inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy
- Spectrophotometry -
visible, ultraviolet and infrared
- Atomic absorption
spectrophotometry
- Potentiometry and
conductometry
- X-ray
diffractometry
- Mass spectrometry.
Unit 6: Statistics
- Experimental designs for
pot culture and field experiments
- Statistical measures of
central tendency and dispersion
- Correlation and
regression
- Tests of significance - t
and F tests
- Computer use in soil
research
- Geostatistics.
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