Peaty and Marshy Soil of India

In Kerala‘s Kuttanad region, farmers grow rice on land that sits below sea level, held back by bunds. The soil beneath it is peaty and marshy, built from centuries of trapped, half-decayed plants.

Must Know

• Peaty and marshy soil forms where waterlogging creates anaerobic, low-oxygen conditions.
• Those conditions only partly decompose plant matter, building up a thick layer of organic material over time.
• That heavy buildup of organic matter gives the soil its dense texture and black colour.
• India’s largest peaty and marshy tracts lie in Kerala’s Kuttanad region, in Alappuzha district.
• Similar deposits also occur along coastal Odisha, the Sundarbans delta, and other parts of West Bengal.

Good to Know

• These soils form in low-lying, high-rainfall areas prone to waterlogging: deltas, backwaters, and estuaries.
• Kerala’s Kuttanad soil carries a local name too: kari.
• Odisha’s peaty tracts form amid numerous rivers, estuaries, and mangrove-fringed wetlands.
• Rice grows especially well on these soils, since it tolerates standing water far better than most other crops.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

• Kuttanad is remarkable for more than its soil. Farmers there cultivate paddy below sea level, behind protective bunds.
• That makes Kuttanad one of very few places in the world where farming happens below sea level.
• The heavy, waterlogged nature of these soils makes them poor for most crops besides rice, without drainage work.
• Similar peaty deposits also form along the tidal stretches of the Mahanadi and Brahmaputra deltas.