Table 2 - Department of Land Resources

LRISD, NIC(Hqrs)
2.4.7.12 Saline and alkali soils (Kathiawar peninsula, alluvial plains of Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan),
2.4.7.13 Shallow and skeletal soils (Ladakh and Kashmir).
2.4.7.14 Grey brown soils (foothills of Aravallis),
2.4.7.15 Brown forest and podzolic soil (north-western Himalaya),
2.4.7.16 Sandy and littoral soils (Lakshadweep and coastal areas of Andaman and
Nicobar islands).
(Source:http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/India.htm)
2.4.8 National Level Efforts for Soil Mapping
It is observed that various national level organizations like NBSS & LUP, All India Soil
and Land Use Survey, NNRMS Division of Department of Space are involved in
preparation of soil map of the country in scales like 1:50000 and 1:250000. For this
purpose the Maps of Survey of India and Satellite Maps are being used. These agencies
use soil taxonomic classification which is strictly hierarchical in nature and is divided
into six groups namely order, sub-order, great-order, great-group, family and series. They
have identified 29 soil characteristics for classification of soil. The benchmark soil series
used by NNRMS, ISRO, Department of Space, Bangalore is attached with Annexure-2 of
this document.
A sample classification of the soil code is shown below:
SOIL-CODE
CODING SCHEME FOR SOILS UPTO SUB-GROUP LEVEL
Coding scheme for soil layer AA- BB- CC- DD- EEFFGG-HH (16 digits)
AA – Order (Two digits)
BB – Sub-Order (Two digits)
CC- Grate Group (Two digits)
DD- Sub-group (Two digits)
EE- Family, Texture (Two digits)
FF- Family, Mineralogy (Two digits)
GG-Family, Temperature (Two digits)
HH- Series (Two digits)
Level Level-1 Level-2 Level-3
Detail Sub-Group Family Series
Scale 1:1Million 1:2,50,000 1:50,000
Code AABBCCDD AABBCCDDEEFFGG AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH
(Source : Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Sixth Edition, 1994 USDA, Soil Conservation Service)
NIC,DIT,MCIT,GOI 36