User:ProudPlantParent/Red soil

Article Evaluation
Content


 * Some of the information presented in this article is not entirely accurate or up to date. This article refers to red soil as a "poor growing soil." This is a misleading statement. Red soil, as discussed in several of the cited sources, is vital to agriculture in many Asian countries. This unique soil has historically made up a large portion of farmland in China and India, growing harvestable trees and other profitable crops. However, due to recent anthropogenic pollution, much of this soil has experienced changes in acidity and nutrients that have negatively affected the sustainability of crops. Red soil is not a poor growing soil; rather, it is a once abundant and rich soil that has lost some of its sustainability due to climate change.
 * The content of this article is organized by region, but may be more effective if presented chronologically. The history of red soil holds significance and makes clear some of the effects caused by climate change. Although there are some differences in red soil across different regions, it still holds many of the same properties; the differences in the soil are primarily due to the climates of different regions, not the soil's composition. Discussing these differences is irrelevant to red soil itself and could be contained to one section.
 * The information presented in the summary at the top of the article is out of order when compared to the rest of the page. This makes the article confusing. The details regarding red soil's characteristics and morphology are presented as subtopics in the section about only India's red soil, but this is not clear in the introduction. It is also mentioned that red soil is common in multiple regions, but only the morphology and characteristics of Indian red soil are discussed. The article lacks sufficient information to fully explain this topic.

Tone


 * This article is mostly successful in maintaining a neutral tone. There is not an obvious stance taken by the author(s) of this article. Though I did not detect any strong bias, I did notice a lack of discussion about the effect of climate change on red soil. This viewpoint is underrepresented in the article. The addition of a discussion about red soil and how it has changed with the evolving climate would make this article more current and complete.

Sources

Talk Page
 * The first source cited in this article is written by V. Bhargava, whose studies of red soil are reliable and founded on extensive research. This source is strong evidence to support the article.
 * The second source, a chapter from a book about agricultural science, was written by multiple researchers and edited as well. This is another strong source to support the subject of the article, and includes information about the impacts of climate change on red soil that should be discussed in the article.
 * The third cited source, a book on red soils in China, appears to be fairly strong evidence to support the subject of this article. It does not have any editors listed, but the authors are environmental researchers at universities in both China and the UK. However, there is very little mentioned about China's red soil in the Wikipedia article. This source has not been utilized to its full potential.
 * The fourth source is an excerpt of a book on soil science in Greece. This source appears to be relatively reliable, however the information about Greek red soil was taken almost directly from the abstract of this source.
 * The final cited source is from a textbook on the environment, so it is likely a trustable source for information regarding soil research. However, some of the statements about Indian red soil in this article contradict what was written in the cited textbook. False information is being shared in the article as it currently stands.

ProudPlantParent (talk) 19:16, 14 October 2021 (UTC)
 * As of now, there is very little content on the Talk page of this article. There is one statement regarding the amount of red soil in India, and this statement contradicts what is said in one of the official studies cited in the article.

Article Draft
Red soil is a type of soil that typically develops in warm, temperate, and humid climates and comprise approximately 13% of Earth's soils.

Characteristics
Red soils include multiple soil types (e.g ultisols, alfisols, oxisols) that are classified as red soil when they develop a distinct reddish color, which can vary from reddish brown to reddish yellow and is the result of their high iron content.

Composition
Red soils are generally derived from the weathering of crystalline and metamorphic rock in areas of high rainfall. Red soil contain large amounts of clay and thin organic and organic-mineral layers of highly leached soil resting on an alluvium red layer.

Soil fertility and management practices
Red soils are typically difficult for crop cultivation because high leaching leads to low water holding capacity, low nutrients, low organic matter (humus), and acidification. Fluctuations in the concentration of iron within red soil are found to have significant implications on its fertility and growth properties. The fertility of red soils can be improved with various farming techniques.

Liming
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Nutrient application
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Organic matter
It is important for the productivity of red soil to manage the amount of organic matter it contains, as erosion can cause this content to fall rapidly. [add paragraph]

Crop rotation
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