Important Tips To Know About Soil Before Planting Vegetables

Soil is the dynamic natural body on the surface of the earth in which plants grow, composed of mineral and organic materials and living forms: Buckman and Bardy Soil may be defined as the three dimensional natural body on the surface of earth, sum up of mineral and organic materials and living forms, generated from the parent material due to influence of climate and organisms as conditioned by relief, over a period of time which is a medium for plant growth. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE SOIL

Soil is a vital natural resource on the earth's surface their proper use depends the life supporting systems of a country and socio-economic development of its people. The relationship of soil, environment and society is intimate and rely on soil quality and the way it is managed. Soil science is the branch of agriculture that deals with soil considered as a natural body and as an important medium for plant growth. Therefore, a fundamental knowledge of soil science is prerequisite to meeting the natural resource challenges that will face humanity in the 21st century. 

What are things that influence the soil

1.Climate: Climate influences soil formation primarily through effects of water and solar energy. Water is the solvent in which chemical reactions take place in the soil, and it is necessary to the life cycles of soil organisms present in the soil. Water is also the principal medium for the erosive or percolative movement of solid particles. The rates at which these water-mediated processes take place are controlled by the amount of energy present from the sun.

2.Organisms( plant and animal): The organisms living in and on the soil form distinct soil types. 

Classification of Living plants and animals on and in soil

1) Macroanimals (insects, mammals, gastropods, earthworms) 

2) Microanimals (nematodes, protozoa) 

3) Macroplants (the green plants) 

4) Microplants (fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes, algae)

The development of soils can be significantly affected by vegetation, animal inhabitants, and human populations. Any array of contiguous soils influenced by local flora and fauna is termed a biosequence. In the middle of the precipitation range, transition zones occur in which small groves of needle-leaved trees are interspersed with grassland patches in an apparently random manner.

3.Time: The soil-forming factors of parent material and topography are largely site-related (attributes of the terrain), whereas those of climate and organisms are largely flux-related (inputs from the surroundings). Time as a soil-forming factor is neither a property of the terrain nor a source of external stimulus. It is instead an abstract variable whose significance is solely as a marker of the evolution of soil characteristics.