Soil Types of India — Map & Classification Guide

Alluvial soil, deposited by rivers, covers the largest share of the country — the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the deltas of peninsular rivers — and is the most agriculturally productive soil in India. Black soil (also called Regur, or 'cotton soil') forms from weathered volcanic (Deccan Trap) rock across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, and is famous specifically for cotton cultivation.

Red soil, coloured by iron oxide, spans large parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Odisha. Laterite soil forms in high-rainfall tropical areas with alternating wet and dry seasons — parts of Kerala, Karnataka, and the northeastern hill states. Arid (desert) soil covers Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat and Haryana, sandy and low in moisture. Saline and alkaline soils occur in patches wherever drainage is poor, particularly in dry and coastal regions. Peaty and marshy soils are found in high-rainfall, waterlogged pockets such as parts of Kerala, Odisha, and West Bengal. Forest and mountain soils occur across the Himalayan belt and other forested hill regions, varying by elevation and vegetation.

Soil questions are almost always paired with a crop or a region — Black soil with cotton, Alluvial soil with rice and sugarcane, Laterite with tea and coffee plantations, Arid soil with drought-resistant crops like millets. Learning each soil type alongside its characteristic crop and region, rather than in isolation, is what turns eight separate facts into one connected picture — exactly what a blank practice map is built for.