Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Characteristics Under Saturated and Near-Saturated Conditions for the Vulnerable Eastern Ghats Region of India

Abstract

Unscientific land management caused the deterioration of soil hydraulic properties (SHPs), which calls for a robust management system to stop further deterioration. Understanding about SHPs of different land use can be useful in deciding the most suitable land use system for a particular agroecosystem. The Eastern Ghats region of India (Koraput, Odisha), is one of the most vulnerable agroecosystems in the world considered for the present work. The land use change impact from traditional agriculture to various horticultural land uses on SHPs was examined for the Koraput, Odisha. Hood infiltrometer was utilized to evaluate surface soil’s hydraulic conductivity and infiltration rate for different land uses (cashew orchard, mango orchard, pasture, and agriculture) at three pressure heads 0, − 1, and − 3 cm. Furthermore, the macropore and meso + micropore contributions to the saturation flow at various pressure heads were determined. The results indicate that the water flow rate, hydraulic conductivity, macrospores’ contribution to overall flow, organic carbon (%), hydraulically active porosity, tension, and residual flux were higher in cashew orchard land use than in other land uses. The contribution of soil pores that have a radius greater than 0.50 mm was 67.34, 66.03, 51.77, and 51.29% of the entire saturated flow with corresponding hydraulic active porosity of 0.00502, 0.00392, 0.00085, and 0.00076% of soil volume under cashew orchard, mango orchard, pasture, and agricultural land, respectively. This demonstrates the susceptibility of land use changes to different horticultural and agricultural lands in near-saturated conditions. The results strongly imply that adopting horticultural plantations in the Eastern Ghats’ barren and pasture lands may improve SHPs.