481 
LAND CAPABILITY - LIMITATION CLASSES 
Velikonda range particularly hogback ridges 
and their piedmont zone. It is a mixed 
deciduous forest with dominance of red san- 
ders. Red sanders is the most economically 
important species, a foreign exchange earner, 
that grows abundantly in this Rajampet forest 
division only in India. 
Southern tropical dry thorn forest 
This type of forest is confined to the hilly 
terrain of central part of the study area on 
steep slopes. It is a mixed forest with no 
dominance of any single species. 
Barren land 
It is unproductive in its present state. 
There are spots of intensive soil erosion 
along the foot-slopes of the hills besides 
barren rock surfaces of quartzite terrain. 
Broken ground - dissection and erosion 
These are active pediment areas covered with 
rock fragments and very thin soil. They are 
subjected to intensive dissection and soil 
erosion. These are lands that are unproduc 
tive in their present state. 
With practically no irrigation facilities 
through canals, the agriculture in the entire 
area is dependent upon groundwater and tanks. 
A number of tanks can be seen dispersed in 
the entire area. The tanks are very favour 
ably located in sloping areas so that they 
have a considerable command area. The area 
behind the tanks are places of severe ero 
sion due to sheet flow, which carried not 
only water into the tanks but also aids in 
the silting up of the tanks. 
LAND CAPABILITY 
The land use capability or land suitability 
is the potential capacity of a given tract 
of a land to support different types of land 
utilization under given cultural and socio 
economic conditions (Vink, 1975). The study 
area is divided into six 'land classes' of 
land capability - limitation of classes 
based on different attributes like landform, 
slope, soil, drainage, erosion, groundwater 
potential and present land use. The areal 
distribution of land capability classes is 
shown in Fig.4. Each land class is assigned 
a productive ranking based on the assessment 
of its capability limitations. Though the 
land ranking has been done with an objective 
to distinguish one land class from another, 
a certain degree of subjective judgement is 
unavoidable. The purpose of studying diffe 
rent land classes is to ascertain the extent, 
location and quality of land, with a view to 
assess their suitability for a specific 
purpose of land use and land cover, and for 
proper management of the land resources of 
part of Rajampet taluk, Cuddapah district, 
Andhra Pradesh. The land class with excel 
lent capability and little limitations is 
ranked I, and land class with least capabi 
lity and many limitations is ranked VI. 
Mechanical farming is possible in the 
classes I to IV. 
1. Cheyyeru fluvial plain 
Cheyyeru fluvial plain is the most produc 
tive land class with excellent capability 
and with minimum limitations and is hence 
ranked as Class I. It is a river built 
plain. The plain is almost flat with less 
than 0°30' slope. The groundwater potential 
is very high and the water level is at 0.4 
to 4.0 m below ground level. The major 
crops grown in this plain are paddy (Oryza 
sativa), groundnut (Arachis hypogea), 
jowar (Sorghum vulgare), bajra (Pennisetum 
typhoides), korra (Setaria italica), and 
ragi lEleusine coracana). This type of 
land requires only simple management prac 
tices to maintain soil/productivity like 
use of fertilizers, green manures and 
gypsum (to improve permeability). 
2. Narrow fluvial plain 
This river plain is built up by Patagunjana 
river, Pulang Eru and other small streams. 
The slope is less than 0°45‘. It has great 
capability with very few limitations and is 
ranked II in the order of productivity rank 
ing. The depth to water varies from 1 to 
4 m. Paddy, jowar, bajra, groundnut and 
gingelly (Sesamum indicum), are the domi 
nant crops being grown in this land class. 
It requires more of fertilizers, green 
manures and gypsum to maintain the land 
productivity. 
3. Broad valley fill area 
It is filled up with unconsolidated collu- 
vio-fluvial material. The slope varies 
between 0°30' to 1°. Red loamy soil is 
predominant in this area under slight to 
moderate erosion. The groundwater potential 
is very good to high, depth to water varies 
from 2.7 to 14.7 m below ground level. It 
is also dominant with great capability and 
a few limitations, and is ranked III in the 
order of productivity ranking. The major 
crops grown in this area are paddy, ground 
nut, bajra, jowar, korra, ragi and pulses. 
The fertility status could be raised by the 
application of bulk organic manures and 
chemical fertilizers. 
4. Narrow valley fill area 
It is filled with unconsolidated colluvio- 
fluvial material. Black cotton soil (light 
- moderately deep to deep) is predominant 
in the area. This area has gentle to mode 
rate slope of 1° to 2°. It has moderate to 
low capability and moderate limitations of 
mass movement, hence it is ranked IV. The 
important crops in the area are bajra, 
jowar, paddy, gingelly, pulses and millets. 
The groundwater potential is good, soil 
erosion is active on the hill slopes and 
accretion in the valley floors. Combined 
application of Nitrates and Phosphates gives 
good response. Acid forming fertilizers and 
super phosphates are best suited for these 
soils. Under irrigated conditions provi 
sion of adequate drainage is necessary.