This textbook introduces readers to the basics of soil science, including: the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils; soil formation, classification, and global distribution; soil health, soils and humanity, and sustainable land management.

Kamuli District offers an opportunity to understand pedology and cropping decisions in an area that has been underdocumented. Broad, flat summits and narrow convex shoulders are composed of residuum formed from Precambrian granite. Valleys mirror the summits, that is, broad flats composed of alluvium that are rimmed by narrow concave toeslopes. The alluvial landscape is a mix of Holocene terraces and modern floodplains. Gentle, linear backslopes gently merge into footslopes connecting the summits and valleys. These positions are composed of residuum‐derived colluvium. These geologic and geomorphic differences create a systematic soil landscape pattern with Oxisols predominating on summits and shoulders, Ultisols predominating on the backslopes and footslopes, and Alfisols predominating across the valleys. The backslopes are more intensively cultivated compared to the summits and valleys. A comparison between cultivated and uncultivated areas revealed a dynamic relationship dependent on landscape position and human impacts. Critical human impacts include upland erosion, declining soil organic matter content, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, and exchangeable bases. Each of these appears to be gradually diminishing soil function, which has dire implications for future food security in Kamuli District.

Plinthite is a major pedogenic feature in the Kamuli catena, posing significant challenges for agricultural land use. This study investigates the morphological expression and mineralogical insights into plinthite within the soil-landscape of Kamuli District. Soil characterization involved detailed field morphological descriptions along the Kamuli catena followed by laboratory characterization of major soil properties. Plinthite mineralogy was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Morphology of plinthic soils varied along the catena with summit pedons exhibiting shallow plinthic horizons and backslope pedons showing comparatively deeper occurrences. The lowlands underlain by alluvium of the Holocene lacked plinthite. Mineralogical analysis of ten plinthite samples identified two distinct assemblages. Group 1 (quartz, kaolinite, hematite, goethite, manganite) represents a highly weathered endmember associated with stable summits. Group 2 (muscovite, kaolinite, hematite, goethite, manganite), with elevated K, Mg, Na, and Ca in SEM-EDS, indicating they are recent compared to Group 1. This elemental composition directly reflects the signature of the parent material preserved within Group 2 samples. Plinthite in the Kamuli catena is a relict feature, whose formation is tied to past drainage regimes. Its multi-stage history is recorded in the two mineralogical groups separated by hundreds of thousands of years of landscape evolution. Group 1 represents plinthite from the deeply weathered African Surface. Group 2 is later formed on the substrate exposed by stripping along the Victoria Nile.