Land Degradation

  • Meaning: Land degradation refers to a decline in the overall quality of soil, water, or vegetation conditions, commonly caused by human activities.
  • It occurs through natural and man-made processes of wind erosion, water erosion and water logging.
  • In India, land suffers from different types of degradation, mainly because of unstable use and inappropriate management practices.
  • Such kind of degradation leads to the loss of invaluable nutrients and lower food grain production.
  • Poor land use practices are responsible for the rapid land degradation in India.

Causes of Land Degradation

  1. Loss of vegetation due to deforestation.
  2. Overgrazing, i.e. grazing of natural pastures at stocking intensities above the livestock carrying capacity.
  3. Encroachment into forestlands.
  4. Non-adoption of adequate soil conservation measures.
  5. Unsustainable fuelwood and fodder extraction.
  6. Improper crop rotation.
  7. Indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides.
  8. Improper planning and management of irrigation systems.
  9. Extraction of groundwater in excess of the recharge capacity.
  10. Poverty of the agriculture-dependent people.
  11. Shifting cultivation.

Some Facts and Figures about Land Degradation

  • According to Indian Agriculture in Brief, 27th edition, 2000, about 174 million hectares (i.e., 53 per cent of the total land area) of land in India is facing the serious problem of land degradation. Out of 174 million hectares:
  • 144 million hectares are subjected to soil erosion through water and wind; and
  • A Balance of 30 million hectares is subjected to other problems.