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Soils of India: asked and not asked.
UPSC has asked 11 of these 18. 9 came more than once. 7 have not come yet. Lock the repeated ones first, then read the rest.
First, the concept
ICAR divides India's soils into 8 main groups. Alluvial covers the most area (about 43 percent), then red, then black.
Soil follows rock and rain. Black soil comes from the Deccan lava; red soil from old crystalline rocks; laterite forms where heavy rain washes the soil out (leaching), leaving iron and aluminium.
Most Indian soils are poor in nitrogen, phosphorus and humus. UPPCS asks a soil with its crop, its region, or its local name.
🔁 Asked again and again (9)
Tap a year to open that solved question.
Alluvial soil
Black, red and laterite
- Laterite soil · Heavy rain and heat; leached; good for cashew, tea, coffee; dug as bricks ('later' = brick) 8 times:202120202020201320132006
- Black soil (Regur) · Deccan lava; holds water; best for cotton; rich in lime, iron, magnesia, potash 6 times:202120212021201020101981
- Red soil · Red from iron oxide; looks yellow when hydrated; Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Chotanagpur 2 times:20101981
Desert, salt and marsh
✅ Asked once (2)
Black, red and laterite
- Self-ploughing · Black soil cracks when dry and swells when wet, so it turns itself over
Mountain soils
- Forest soil · Acidic, rich in humus; Himalaya and the Ghats 2021
❌ Not asked by UPSC yet (7)
Items marked 'asked in UPPCS' have already come in the UP state exam, so examiners do use them.
Alluvial soil
- Khadar · New alluvium of the flood plains, renewed every year asked in UPPCS
- Bhangar · Old alluvium, above flood level asked in UPPCS
- Kankar · Lime (calcium carbonate) nodules found in bhangar
Desert, salt and marsh
- Arid soil · Rajasthan; sandy, low humus; turns productive with canal water (Ganganagar) asked in UPPCS
Mountain soils
- Karewa · Lake deposits of the Kashmir Valley; saffron of Pampore asked in UPPCS
Soil care
- Shelter belts · Rows of trees that stop wind erosion in dry areas
- Soil Health Card · Scheme of 2015; tells a farmer the nutrients his soil needs
⚠️ Black soil is poor in nitrogen and phosphorus, though rich in lime and potash. Khadar is the new alluvium and Bhangar the old one, not the other way round.
'Asked' is checked against the solved UPSC questions on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.