Making India land degradation neutral by 2030
• Land degradation is a broad term but in general it is the process in which soil looses its fertility and becomes unproductive. And consequences of this even gets worse when there is a loss of biodiversity and eventually it leads to destruction or crisis like situation.
• Problem with defining land degradation is that one group of people takes it as a benefit or other may take it as a problem. For e,g if there is a heavy rain fall area , farmers will consider it as a good climate for farming but scientists may look it as a susceptible zone for soil erosion due to water.
Some disturbing facts
• 25% of total India’s land is undergoing desertification
• 32% is facing degradation that affected the production
• Most culprit of form of land degradation is soil erosion (accounts 71% of total land degradation)
• Second most common form of degradation is wind erosion (10.24% of total land degradation)
• Other major forms are water logging and salinity alkanity
• Most affected areas in India are :- Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand and Orrisa.
CAUSES
• Human interference in nature
• Loss of vegetation
• Deforestation
• Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction
• Forest fires
• Over grazing
• Mining
• Wrong practices of agriculture
• Climate change
• Fertile land , especially dry regions become increasingly arid, losing water bodies, vegetation and wild life.
• 68% of the country is prone to drought and this may be further increased because of impact of climate change particularly in dry land.
Eye opener
• The one year old central government is working on a plan to “stop and reverse” the threat by desertification. The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate change Sh. Javadekar showed his concern on this serious problem.
• According to the report presented by Ministry of environment, forest and climate change, states India’s food security is under threat and 81 million hectares facing desertification.
Ideas to stop and reverse it
• Afforestation
• Planting of shelter belts(wind breaker) to prevent wind erosion
• Controlling overgrazing
• Controlling of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes
• Controlling of mining activities
• Protect forest areas
• Strip farming and crop rotation
• Construction of dams
• Controlling migration of the people
• Educate masses
• Co-ordination among the different stakeholders
Afforestation
• Plant a tree on a national festival
• Plant a tree on birthdays and anniversaries
• Discourage practices like Jhum cultivation and slash and burn
• Shelter belts
• Very effective in areas where climate is windy.
• Prevent soil erosion from wind.
• Also drifts the snow from obstructing roads.
• Again it is very important to control over grazing for preventing land , so that they do not loose essential nutrients and its other productive qualities
Overgrazing
• Reason of occurrence
• Plants are exposed to grazing for extended period of the time
• Insufficient recovery period
• Over population of native or non native wild animals
• Poorly managed agriculture land
• Ignorance for the mismanagement and illiteracy.
Control sand dunes
• 1.Wind erosion common in desert and coastal areas
• 2.Sand dunes are formed
• 3.Thorny bushes restricts the formation of sand dunes
Controlling mining and quarrying
• rehabilitation
• reclamation
• restoration
Crop rotation
- Terracing
- Contouring
- Strip Farming
Education and Awareness
- strong steps should be taken
- mass participation
- co-ordination amongst stake holders , NGO's and Government
- protection of forest area
Conclusion
We often think land degradation affects only soil fertility, however it has major ill effects on the whole environment. Its not only badly affects our land but also affects our water reservoir, flora and fauna and what not.
It is need of the time that we must stop and reverse it before its too late. It takes dedication, honesty and positive approach to make that happen.
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