A STUDY ON PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS UNDER DIFFERENT TEA GROWING REGIONS OF WEST BENGAL (INDIA)

The physicochemical properties of soil (0-0.20 m) were analysed to evaluate the characteristics of tea growing soils under three different locations of West Bengal (India), considering the age and elevation of tea plantation. The soil samples of Dooars and Terai region of West Bengal were collected on the basis of age (young, medium and old) of the tea plants, while that from Darjeeling region as organic and non-organic tea growing soils. The organic and non-organic tea soils were collected on the basis of elevations of the sites. The soils of the Dooars region were clay to sandy loam in texture whereas, soils of Terai and Darjeeling were sandy loam in texture. The selected soils were strong to moderately acidic in reaction with low electrical conductivity (EC), Ca+2 and Mg+2 content. The organic carbon content of different regions was found medium to high, but very little variation was obtained with organic tea growing regions of Darjeeling. The soil available N and P content were low to medium in all the regions but higher available K content were found with the soils of Dooars and Terai regions. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils varied from low to medium. The correlation study indicated that CEC, available N and K were influenced by soil organic carbon content, while the available P, Ca+2 and Mg+2 content by the soil pH. The available N, K, EC and CEC were negatively influenced by sand content of the soils.