Soils Loralai

 

Most soils in Balochistan have a homogenous porous structure, conducive for plant growth. Some of the younger soils, however have original lamination in the subsoil. All the soils are invariably calcareous, their lime contents ranges between 5 and 30 percent. The lime is uniformly distributed in most soils. In case of high lime contents, the soils are hard when dry but soft and friable when moist. Their organic matter content is generally low, 0.3 to 0.5 percent.

 Much of the surface of the mountain and hill slopes is bare rock without soil cover. Small patches contain shallow or very shallow, strongly calcareous, gravelly and stony loams. While the soils sustain very sparse shurb and grass and vegetation offering limited grazing, the rock only has a water catchment value. The gravelly soils permit the rain water to penetrate readily, but they show a low water holding capacity. The valleys consist of alluvial soil, favourable for agriculture purposes.

 No scientific analysis of the soil in various parts of the district has been made. The soil of Bori valley consists of a redish loam and is highly productive. There is also white loam (Spin), red loam (Sra), dark bluish (Shinkhar) gravelly (Raghan) and saline and interior soil (Sharah) in the Bori valley. In Duki a pale grey loess occurs, sweet soil (Khozha), drak bluish (Shingandh), sandy soil (Sagana) gravelly (Ghilan) and saline (Tirkha) also exist in Duki. In Sanjavi soft red containing silt or mat (Kharina), dark bluish (Shinlakan), sandy loam (Sagana), and gravelly (Dabarlina) soil is found23.

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