Additional project ideas:

Additional project ideas:
1. How to prepare a soil health card?
2. How to reclaim saline and sodic soil?
3. How to minimize fluoride and nitrate toxicity in drinking water?
4. Organic farming for improving soil quality and food quality
5. Soil : source and sink of carbon.
6. Diagnosis of acid, saline and alkali soils for their better management
7. Evaluation of soil biological activity for assessing soil quality
8. Minimizing heavy metal pollution for protecting soil quality
9. Arsenic contamination in ground water
10. Influence of management practices on land quality
11. Recycling of industrial wastes for Agricultural use
12. Soil microbial population – Key to soil health
13. Waste disposal management and land quality
14. Balanced fertilization improves/maintains soil quality and enhances crop productivity
15. Soil pH and nutrient availability to crop
16. How soil quality affect human health
17. Pesticide effects on land quality
18. How pollutants affect soil biota?
19. Strategies / ways to improve soil organic matter
20. Eco-friendly compositing of agricultural wastes
21. Eco-friendly farming
22. Soil as a natural filter
23. Suitability of soils for growing crops
24. Evaluation of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes
25. Determining maximum loading limit for copper in agricultural land
Group Members:
Dr. J.K Saha, Dr. T.R. Rupa, Dr. G.V. Lakshmi, Dr. S.K. Singh, Dr. Tapan Adhikari,
Mr. Nirmalendu Basak,

Project 4: Evaluating filtration capacity of soil

Project 4: Evaluating filtration capacity of soil

Introduction:

Soil acts as a physical (sieving action), chemical (adsorption and precipitation) and biological filter (decomposition of organic waste materials). It has an important role in people’s efforts to maintain a suitable environment, as a waste disposal site and to minimize pollution. In majority of area around cities and towns, municipal sewage water (which usually contains inorganic and organic pollutants) is used for irrigation to crops. In some situations, urban runoff and storm water carrying various chemical and pathogenic contaminants also finds its way into the land area. Unless filtered, these have the potential to contaminate water bodies.

Objective:
To estimate filtration capacity of soil
Materials required:
1. Industrial effluent and/or municipal sewage water
2. Copper sulphate
3. Nickel chloride
4. Empty mineral water bottle of one litre capacity
5. Note book
6. Soil from river bank, soil from dried pond bed, soil from cultivated land, and soil from forest area

Methodology:

1. Collect industrial effluent, domestic sewage from few sites of the city.
2. Prepare 16 soil columns: For this, cut one-third of the top portion of the bottle; make 3-4 fine holes with needle at the bottom of the bottle; put a thin cotton layer at the bottom. .
3. Pack the bottle with 500 g of soil and place it over a funnel.
4. Prepare solution of nickel chloride or copper sulphate (like: 10g salt/ 100 ml)
5. Add 200 ml of the salt solution, Industrial effluent and/or municipal sewage water in separate soil columns.
6. Collect the water leached through the soil column at the bottom of the funnel.
7. Note down the color of leached water


Observations:
Note :Table is not included.

Interpretation: If there is a colored leachate, the soil has poor filtration capacity. On the other hand, colorless leachate indicate high filtration capacity. In case, if a colored leachate is obtained for salt solution and colorless leachate is observed for industrial effluent or municipal sewage water, soil has good filtration capacity for particulate solids but poor filtration capacity for metals.

Relevance:
This experiment will help the student to understand which type of soil has good filtration capacity. By having information about the types of soil and industries in their area, they can predict the susceptibility of water bodies of their area from getting contaminated.

Project 3: Suitability of soils for growing crops

Introduction:

Soil reaction (pH) indicates whether a soil is acidic, neutral or alkaline. A pH range of 6.5 to 7.5 is ideal for availability of most of the nutrients to plant. High pH of soil is due to the saturation of sodium which is responsible for deterioration of physical condition of the soil. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the soils indicates total soluble salt content of the soil. If the salt content in soil is above the permissible limit, then plants find it difficult to absorb nutrient and water from soil, thus their growth is poor. Therefore, measure of pH and EC of the soil gives an indication about chemical environment of soil around plant root zone.

Objectives:
1. To provide an idea about the suitability of soil for crop production.
2. To suggest corrective measures to improve soil quality.

Methodology:
• Visit your area and locate different types of the soils
• Collect a representative soil samples from each area
• Put the identification number to all the soil samples
• After drying, grind and sieve the soil samples
• Take a beaker of 50 ml and put about 10 g of soil sample in it
• Add about 25 ml of distilled water and keep it for 30 mts with intermittent shaking using glass rod
• Measure the pH of soil by using pH meter
• Measure EC in the same suspension by EC meter
• Record the reading of pH and EC of all the soil samples and interpret the results.


Interpretation
note: table not inbcluded
Relevance:
The proposed project could be easily carried out by students using simple tool. It will give an understanding about why some soil found in their locality is productive and some are not. They will be able to understand about the problems of their soil and could broadly sensitize the farming community to adopt the corrective measures like addition of lime and gypsum. This will have an overall impact on increase in soil productivity and a message to farmers how to care about their soils.

Project 2: Evaluation of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes

Project 2: Evaluation of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes

Introduction:

Ground water is being widely used in many parts of the country for drinking and irrigation purpose. However, there are reports of falling water quality from different states. The drought affected areas still depending on groundwater are facing serious problem. In many parts of the country, gypsum is used effectively in reducing the sodicity problem. Increasing concentration of salts due to heavy use of fertilizers over years is common. This project proposes to identify the problem and make student aware of its remedial measures.
.
Objectives:

1. To gather information about change in ground water quality over a period of time
2. To examine the quality of ground water
3. To suggest remedial measures based on water quality

Methodology:

Project data base can be collected by using a questionnaire. Information can also be collected from local government organizations like ground water department. Questionnaire should include name, locality, source of ground water, level of ground water depth, color, taste, no of families using water and area under irrigation. Students can collect water samples and analyse for their physico-chemical properties like pH, EC, salinity, alkalinity using soil test kit. Finally water quality can be assessed,

Relevance:

Based on quality, salinity and alkalinity of the water can be grouped and probable reclamation measures can be suggested. Reclamation practices like placing gypsum at canal entry level or passing water through gypsum bed can be demonstrated

Project 1: Determining maximum loading limit for copper in agricultural land

Project 1: Determining maximum loading limit for copper in
agricultural land

Introduction:
Copper is used for various purposes like utensils, electric wiring, fungicides etc. Repeated application of copper containing fungicides for long time, particularly in orchards has been found to enhance copper concentration to a toxic level. This element is known to have significant adverse effect on plant growth and soil beneficial microorganisms. Excessive copper can make people ill when ingested. Copper toxicity in humans takes the form of stomach upset, nausea, and diarrhea. Generally, metals are strongly immobilized (or inactivated) by soil constituents and thereby, their toxic effects are not expressed. However, each soil has a definite metal immobilizing capacity, depending on their characteristics; which is therefore, considered as an important soil quality indicator. Once, this immobilizing capacity limit (commonly known as, loading limit) is exceeded, metals start showing their toxicity effect and have potential to contaminate food and groundwater. Through this activity, children can estimate the loading limits of metal for the land area nearby their locality.
Objectives:
1. To estimate the loading limit of copper for a land
2. To understand symptoms of copper toxicity in spinach plant
3. To compare clayey soil and sandy soil for loading limit of copper
Materials required:
Pots of uniform sizes (4 – 5 litre capacity), spinach seeds, balance, wooden log, copper sulphate, data sheet, pencil
Methodology:
1. Collect about two bags of soil each from a cultivated land (preferably clayey or any heavy textured soil) and a sandy soil (or any light textured soil) from a river bank
2. Dry the soils under sun
3. Pulverize the soils with wooden log
4. Fill 10 pots with 3 kg of same type of soil. Apply graded doses of copper sulphate (ranging from 80 to 1200 mg/kg). So there will be a total of 20 pots.
5. Add sufficient amount of water to moisten the soil and keep the pots in shade for 3 days.
6. Mix the soil of the pot thoroughly on a polythene sheet and then refill the pot
7. Sow 15 to 20 seeds of spinach on each pot and apply water slowly with sprinkler to moisten the soil.
8. After a week of germination of seeds, keep only 5 seedlings and remove the rests.
9. Observe the seedlings growth and note down the yellowing of leaves if they appear.
10. The preceding dose of copper application where toxicity symptoms appears on the spinach plant is considered as maximum loading capacity of the soil
11. Compare the loading limits of these two soils and explain the reasons for the difference.
Relevance:
Knowledge on metal loading limits will help in decision making by policy makers for giving permission for new industries known to generate metal containing effluents and also for deciding upon waste disposal sites so that the metal does not contaminate food and water

Sub- theme - III LAND QUALITY

Sub-Theme- III
LAND QUALITY

Our land resources perform various functions like providing base for vegetation, water bodies, habitat for human, animals, birds and other organisms; producing food and fibre; maintaining or enhancing water quality; partitioning water flow and sequestering carbon. Land quality is defined as the capability of land to perform these functions without becoming degraded. Majority of these functions of land are, however, determined by the quality of soil. Maintaining and improving the quality of the Nation’s soils can increase farm productivity, minimize use of nutrients and pesticides, improve water and air quality, and help store greenhouse gases.
Soil quality is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain biological productivity, promote the quality of air and water environments and maintain plant, animal and human health. In short, soil quality can be defined as the “fitness for use” or “Capacity of the soil to function”.
There are several interacting processes occurring among the components of soil as well as with atmosphere. Soil is the storehouse of major, secondary and micronutrients required for plant growth and also for growth of soil micro-flora and fauna. Through different chemical, biochemical and microbial processes, these nutrient elements are released slowly as per the requirement of plant and other organisms. Plant is incapable to take up nitrogen directly from atmosphere even though it contains about 77% nitrogen. Some of the bacteria living in soil fix atmospheric nitrogen to make it available for higher plants. Similarly, soil contains significant amount of phosphorus, but in unavailable form. Various chemical and biochemical processes (mediated by phosphorus solubilizing bacteria) make this nutrient available to plant. Thus status of various nutrient cycling processes indicate the health status of soil.
Soils of the land area perform filtering action for water and therefore, its capacity to filter determines the quality of surface and ground water bodies. Concentration of carbon dioxide has been constantly increasing due to its emission from burning of fossil fuel, deforestation and large scale disturbance for urbanization. Soils also act as a sink for carbon. The vegetation including forests and agricultural crops fixes atmospheric carbon in leaves, shoots and roots through photosynthesis. These carbonaceous materials are temporarily locked in the soil profile on its decay and thereby help in reducing carbon-di-oxide concentration in the atmosphere and global warming. However, soils differ in such carbon storing capacity (Carbon sequestration) depending on their characteristics. Soils of the land also act as a sink for several toxic pollutants generated due to anthropogenic activities. Metals play an important role in our daily life. To meet out increasing demands, metals are continuously mined out from deeper layers of earth crust. After serving human purposes, these metals are ultimately disposed on the land surfaces in the form of industrial effluents, solid wastes etc. Each soil has a definite tolerable limit (loading limit) for pollutants. Once these limits exceeded, pollutants contaminate food chain and ground water bodies, affect adversely the plant growth and soil biota.
Thus the land care and soil quality management assume great significance for ensuring agricultural sustainability which is inevitable to feed the burgeoning population not only in India but across the world. In order to evaluate land quality, we need to identify the key attributes represent the health of land.
Indicators to assess land quality
Land use
Land use is an indicator reflecting how and to what extent society is responding to meet its changing needs and goals or to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Ideally, it is recommended that our geographical land area should have 33% forest cover. However due to increase in demographic pressure, the area under forests and agriculture is reducing continuously; consequently, area under dwellings and industry is increasing. Over the years, such interference of anthropogenic activities is considered as the major cause of land degradation. About 85 million ha of agricultural land are reported to be suffering from various degrees of soil degradation processes such as erosion, salinization, alkalization, water logging, desertification, loss of organic matter, loss of nutrients, soil compaction, entry of toxic pollutants etc.
About 45% of total geographical area of our country is affected by various kind of land degradation. In these degraded land area, erosion of soil caused by water flow contributes maximum to the degradation processes (about 63%) followed by acidification (about 11%), water logging (about 10%), erosion of soil by wind (about 6%) and salinization of soil (about 4%).
Information on aspects such as nature and density of vegetation or nature and productivity of crops; conditions of the land surface (slope, runoff, erosion rates and salinity); hydrological conditions (flooding incidence, groundwater dynamics); and physical, biological and chemical conditions (toxins, nutrients) of the soil helps in explaining various degradation processes. Such monitoring information, superimposed on a baseline soils and terrain database, will allow the estimation of potential productivity changes of land under different main uses and of suitability changes for different purposes such as conservation of native vegetation or animal populations.
Soil Quality
Since all agricultural activities are directly or indirectly, affected by how the “soil is handled”, its health becomes the prime concern before one can address human and livestock health issues. Managing soil is a formidable challenge to ensure productivity, profitability and national food security. Soil quality can be assessed by a number of physical, chemical and biological attributes / processes. Relevance of one or more unfavourable soils conditions for long periods leads to un-sustainability of agricultural system. Major issues of soil quality include:
i) Physical degradation – where, physical properties of soil such as bulk density, structure, water holding capacity, depth etc. are changed un-favorably. Physical degradation of soil are caused by compaction due to use of heavy machinery like combined harvester, tractor, laser leveller, intensive cultivation, puddling, water logging and soil erosion.

ii) Chemical degradation – where chemical properties like pH, electrical conductivity, soil organic matter content, available plant nutrient status, base saturation, cation exchange capacity, phosphate fixing capacity etc. are affected resulting in decline in soil fertility. Chemical degradation is caused by wide nutrient gap between nutrient demand and supply, imbalanced use of fertilizers, emerging deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients, limited / no use of organic manures, acidification and aluminium toxicity in acid soils, salinity and alkalinity. While salinity problems are often associated with irrigation, salinity problems can also occur in dry land areas where rainfall is insufficient to leach salts from the soil.

iii) Biological degradation of soil – where biologically mediated soil processes like nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilisation, nutrient mineralization etc are affected. Biological degradation due to organic matter depletion caused by rise in soil temperature, loss of biodiversity due to agricultural chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers etc. Biological degradation is perhaps the most serious form of soil degradation because it affects the life of the soil and soil may not be able to cycle nutrients and transform harmful chemicals or substances to nontoxic waste or to combat plant pests and diseases. The microbial community is continually adapting to the environment, and can function as indicators of changes in soil quality.

iv) Soil pollution from industrial wastes, excessive use of pesticides and heavy metal contamination resulting in deterioration of water and crop produce quality.
Remedial measures:
Remedial / corrective measures for degraded land could start after identifying the constraints. These can be broadly categorized as following:
Changes in land use pattern: Cultivation of crops having profuse foliage and cover can control soil erosion during rainy season. Plantation of trees and developing grassland with profuse deep root system on the barren and degraded land minimizes soil erosion and prevents degradation of water quality.
Modifying soil conditions by applying amendments: Management of acid soils should aim at raising pH through application of lime which improves nutrient availability and inactivated iron, manganese and aluminium toxicity. Alkali soils can be reclaimed by applying gypsum, which lowers down the pH and exchangeable sodium.
Salinity in the soil can be reduced by leaching down the salt with good quality of irrigation water. Sub-surface drainage technology can mitigate the twin problems of soil salinity and water logging. Growing green manures and addition of organic manures such as farmyard manure and compost improve soil properties.
Avoiding setting up of industries on a land with low fixing capacity for pollutants can prevent contamination of food chain and water bodies and protect crops, soil micro-flora and fauna.