Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope

The tropical soils of the world including India have hardly been considered as a viable substrate for successful agriculture. Although ample research in India has been conducted but sustaining their productivity is a challenge for the land managers. To fulfil this challenge, acquiring new knowledge...

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Main Authors: D.K. Pal, Ashim Datta, D. Vasu, Ranjan Paul, K. Karthikeyan, Pramod Tiwary
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Soil Security
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006225000048
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author D.K. Pal
Ashim Datta
D. Vasu
Ranjan Paul
K. Karthikeyan
Pramod Tiwary
author_facet D.K. Pal
Ashim Datta
D. Vasu
Ranjan Paul
K. Karthikeyan
Pramod Tiwary
author_sort D.K. Pal
collection DOAJ
description The tropical soils of the world including India have hardly been considered as a viable substrate for successful agriculture. Although ample research in India has been conducted but sustaining their productivity is a challenge for the land managers. To fulfil this challenge, acquiring new knowledge through soil care programmes become mandatory. Without such initiative, any attempt to bridge the disparity between food production and future population will be an uphill task. Realizing this urgency, during the last few decades, Indian pedologists and edaphologists took up research endeavours on the pedological and taxonomical nuances and subtilities on benchmark (BM) and identified large number of soil series. The main purpose was to provide a “carrier of information” of the major soil orders (Inceptisols, Mollisols, Alfisols, Ultisols, and Vertisols) of tropical India. Based on this, scientists developed a current status on soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation and resilience. We explicitly reviewed these research endeavours on Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals (UN SDGs). This information may possibly remove the long-standing misgivings about positive pedological functionalities, which may prove the Indian tropical soils as one of the important contributors in strengthening India's economic status. This status of Indian tropical soils, however, still needs to be worked out to establish a relationship between soil properties and ecosystem services at a larger scale, while accomplishing the UNSDGs for increasing crop productivity and sustaining soil and human wellbeing in Indian agricultural soils in the immediate future and beyond.
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spelling doaj-art-b5e1b96a84f848c2ae697a9ebb52f41a2025-08-20T03:42:39ZengElsevierSoil Security2667-00622025-03-011810017910.1016/j.soisec.2025.100179Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scopeD.K. Pal0Ashim Datta1D. Vasu2Ranjan Paul3K. Karthikeyan4Pramod Tiwary5Division of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, India; Corresponding author.Division of Soil and Crop Management, ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana 132001, IndiaDivision of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, IndiaDivision of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, IndiaDivision of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, IndiaDivision of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 033, IndiaThe tropical soils of the world including India have hardly been considered as a viable substrate for successful agriculture. Although ample research in India has been conducted but sustaining their productivity is a challenge for the land managers. To fulfil this challenge, acquiring new knowledge through soil care programmes become mandatory. Without such initiative, any attempt to bridge the disparity between food production and future population will be an uphill task. Realizing this urgency, during the last few decades, Indian pedologists and edaphologists took up research endeavours on the pedological and taxonomical nuances and subtilities on benchmark (BM) and identified large number of soil series. The main purpose was to provide a “carrier of information” of the major soil orders (Inceptisols, Mollisols, Alfisols, Ultisols, and Vertisols) of tropical India. Based on this, scientists developed a current status on soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation and resilience. We explicitly reviewed these research endeavours on Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals (UN SDGs). This information may possibly remove the long-standing misgivings about positive pedological functionalities, which may prove the Indian tropical soils as one of the important contributors in strengthening India's economic status. This status of Indian tropical soils, however, still needs to be worked out to establish a relationship between soil properties and ecosystem services at a larger scale, while accomplishing the UNSDGs for increasing crop productivity and sustaining soil and human wellbeing in Indian agricultural soils in the immediate future and beyond.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006225000048Indian agricultural soilsOptions to enhance OC in SAT soilsPedo-chemical and mineralogical control on GHGs emissionsSoil degradationResilience of degraded soilsRevision of degradation status
spellingShingle D.K. Pal
Ashim Datta
D. Vasu
Ranjan Paul
K. Karthikeyan
Pramod Tiwary
Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
Soil Security
Indian agricultural soils
Options to enhance OC in SAT soils
Pedo-chemical and mineralogical control on GHGs emissions
Soil degradation
Resilience of degraded soils
Revision of degradation status
title Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
title_full Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
title_fullStr Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
title_full_unstemmed Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
title_short Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope
title_sort pedological and taxonomical research of indian tropical soils for fulfilling the un sdgs current status and the future scope
topic Indian agricultural soils
Options to enhance OC in SAT soils
Pedo-chemical and mineralogical control on GHGs emissions
Soil degradation
Resilience of degraded soils
Revision of degradation status
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006225000048
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