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Covering an area of about 18.2 million hectares or about 5.5 per cent of the total reporting area of the country, these soils are found in the valleys and hill slopes of the Himalayas between 200 and 300 metres. These soils are generally immature and are still to be probed systematically. In structure anti texture, they vary from silt-loam to loam. Their colour is dark brown. These soils can be divided into: (i) loamy podzols , and (ii) high altitude soils.
Podzols occupy the mid latitude zone in the Himalayas corresponding with the deodar, pine and blue-pine areas of Assam, Darjeeling, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, andjammu and Kashmir. These soils are acidic in character with low humus content. They are devoted to maize, rice, legumes, fodder and orchards.
The High altitude soils, depending on the forest cover, slope, and rainfall are classified as brown earth type and red-loam. The sub-soil surface of these soils remains frozen under snow. Their soil profile is generally less developed.