State three characteristics of laterite soil.

Laterite soil forms in areas of high temperature and heavy seasonal rainfall, where leaching washes away the silica and leaves oxides of iron and aluminium, giving the soil a red colour. It is poor in nitrogen, phosphate, potash and organic matter and so is of low fertility. It hardens on drying and is widely cut into bricks for building.

No citable source has been recorded for this record. Treat it as practice material, not as fact.

Explanation

It is found in parts of the Western Ghats, Odisha, Jharkhand and the north-eastern states.