Water repellency of soils in the lower Himalayan regions of India: impact of land use.

Although soils are generally considered to wet readily, some are actually water-repellent at the surface. This communication presents the recent progress in relating the severity of water repellency to different soil management practices and land uses under the lower Himalayan region of India. All soils under sal forest, chrysopogon and cropland had less water drop penetration time (<5 s) and therefore were classified as wettable. However soils under eucalyptus plantation and panicum stand showed considerable hydrophobicity. This is considered as being caused by differences in organic matter composition rather than amount of organic carbon. If planted indiscriminately and particularly where there is significant competition for land area, nutrients or water, notable problems can occur under the eucalyptus stand.