Assessment of Physico-Chemical Properties of Tea Garden Soils of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

The experiment was conducted in 2023-2024 to assess the physical and chemical properties of tea garden soils of Darjeeling, West Bengal within its geographical coordinates ranging from 27° 2' 9.6252'' N latitude to 88° 15' 45.6192''E longitude. Nine distinct villages located in the Darjeeling district covering Glenburn, Soureni, and Selimbong tea gardens were chosen for the study. The physical properties of tea garden soils, soil colour, texture, bulk density (Mg m-3), particle density (Mg m-3), percent pore space and percent water holding capacity were analysed at 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm depths. The results showed that the soil colour varied from brown to yellowish brown in dry condition and dark brown to dark reddish brown in wet. The soils of Selimbong were sandy loam to sandy clay loam, Soureni were clay loam, and soils of Glenburn were clay loam to sandy clay loam in texture. The variation in bulk density and particle density was recorded non-significant with the values ranging from 1.01-1.22 Mg m-3 and 2.21-2.64 Mg m-3 respectively. The percent pore space and percent water holding capacity were found significant with the values ranging from 50.53-68.96% and 53.36-79.43% respectively. The soil pH ranged from 4.32-5.28 and electrical conductivity (EC) 0.03-0.97 dS m-1 which were found to be non-significant. The organic carbon and available nitrogen were found to be significant with values ranging from 0.63-2.02% and 177.70-696.3 kg ha-1 respectively. The available phosphorus ranged from 16.13-29.54 kg ha-1 and available potassium 100.64-334.92 kg ha-1 which was found to be significant. The values of exchangeable calcium and magnesium were recorded significant ranging from 0.02-0.42 C mol(p+) kg-1 and 0.016-0.223 C mol(p+) kg-1 respectively.