ABSTRACT

An investigation was conducted to study the wetland soils of Brahmanbaria district. Soil samples were collected from the four representative soil profiles of the low-lying (basin) area of Sarail upazila. Twenty-two soil samples were brought in the Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka for physical and chemical analysis. Mineralogical analysis was performed in Soil Resources Development Institute (SRDI). The objectives of this research were to study some selected wetland soils with reference to their morphological, physical, chemical, physico-chemical and mineralogical properties and also to investigate the changes in selected characteristics of the studied soils. Silt loam was by far the dominant size fraction in most of the soil profiles except Nabinagar series. The pH of the studied wetland soils was slightly acidic to neutral in reaction and the values showed small change with land type. Organic carbon and total-N content of the soils were in general low. Base saturation is high and showed a steady decrease with depth in all the soil profiles. A significant positive correlation was found between cation exchange capacity and percent clay content of the studied soils. Mica and vermiculite are the dominant clay minerals in the studied wetland soils. Soils of the area exhibited the characteristics as hydromorphism where gleization is thought to be the dominant pedogenic process and for classifying the soils meet the requirements of the Inceptisol order of the US Soil Taxonomy. Changes in morphological, physical and chemical properties of the studied soils were due to seasonal wetting and drying in association with high temperature involving alternate reduction and oxidation process. Changes within the original soil materials might be the result of the deposited soil particles. The soils have high potentials and prospects for the increased production of rice if proper attention and management practices are adopted.