Soil of Nagaland

A survey conducted on the soil of Nagaland has revealed that the soil can be categorized into 10 major groups, 14 sub groups, 4 orders, 7 sub-orders and 72 soil families. The soil of Nagaland are an important part of the topography and the geography of Nagaland. The classification of the soils into groups and orders have aided the management of the land use planning which is of primary significance in the agricultural sector. The systematic survey and classification of soils in Nagaland has facilitated extensive crop cultivation in the state.

The following are the four orders of soil in Nagaland that constitute the 16.6 million hectares of geographical land of the state:

Inceptisols

Entisols

Alfisols

Ultisols

The most important type of soil that covers about 66 percent of the land area of Nagaland are the Inceptisols. The soil textures consists of fine clay, clay loamy and the fine loamy clay. These soil types are predominant near the river beds.

About 23.8 percent of the land area of Nagaland is enveloped by the Utisols. The soil is characterized by its low base saturation feature. This soil type is found in different regions of the state and is prevalent mostly in the forested regions of the state which receive a high amount of rainfall. The texture of the soil remains clayey.

Entisols cover 7.3 percent of the land area and is found mainly in the north and the north eastern parts of the state of Nagaland. This nascent category of soil comprises of the fine loamy and the fine categories of soil textures.

The light colored and mineral rich, Alfisols cover a meager 2.9 percent of the land area of the state of Nagaland. The fine loamy and the fine drained class of soil texture occur in the western extremity of the state near its border with Assam.