Main Issue

Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. Land degradation—the
deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and future—is a global
challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change,
environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Land degradation
is happening at an alarming pace, contributing to a dramatic decline in the productivity of
croplands and rangelands worldwide.

Land degradation is one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems and it will
worsen without rapid remedial action. Globally, about 25 percent of the total land area has
been degraded. When land is degraded, soil carbon and nitrous oxide is released into the
atmosphere, making land degradation one of the most important contributors to climate
change. Scientists recently warned that 24 billion tons of fertile soil was being lost per year,
largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices. If this trend continues, 95 percent of the
Earth’s land areas could become degraded by 2050.

Globally, 3.2 billion people are affected by land degradation, especially rural communities,
smallholder farmers, and the very poor. The world population is projected to increase by
about 35 percent to 9.7 billion in 2050, with rising demands for agricultural products
including food, feed, fiber, and fuel. However, pressure on the global land resource is
increasing due to other factors as well, such as agricultural production systems made less
resilient by the loss of biodiversity, and natural factors such as climate variability and
extreme weather events. Climate change exacerbates variations in yields and income from
agriculture, threatening the resilience of agro-ecosystems and stability of food production
systems.

The problems are particularly severe in the driest parts the planet. Dryland landscapes cover
approximately 40 percent of the world’s land area and support two billion people. The vast
majority of people who depend on drylands live in developing countries, where women and
children are most vulnerable to the impacts of land degradation and drought.

Consequences[edit]
There are four main ways of looking at land degradation and its impact on the environment
around it:

1. A temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land. This

can be seen through a loss of biomass, a loss of actual productivity or in
potential productivity, or a loss or change in vegetative cover and soil nutrients.
2. Action in the land's capacity to provide resources for human livelihoods. This can
be measured from a base line of past land use.
3. Loss of biodiversity: A loss of range of species or ecosystem complexity as a
decline in the environmental quality.
4. Shifting ecological risk: increased vulnerability of the environment or people to
destruction or crisis. This is measured through a base line in the form of pre-
existing risk of crisis or destruction.
A problem with defining land degradation is that what one group of people might view as
degradation, others might view as a benefit or opportunity. For example, planting crops at a
location with heavy rainfall and steep slopes would create scientific and environmental concern
regarding the risk of soil erosion by water, yet farmers could view the location as a favourable
one for high crop yields.[10]

Causes[edit]

The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an
area the size of Italy.[12]

Overgrazing by livestock can lead to land degradation

Land degradation is a global problem largely related to agricultural use, deforestation and climate

change. Causes include:

 Land clearance, such as clearcutting and deforestation

 Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices
 Livestock including overgrazing and overdrafting
 Inappropriate irrigation[13] and overdrafting
 Urban sprawl and commercial development
 Vehicle off-roading
 Quarrying of stone, sand, ore and minerals
 Increase in field size due to economies of scale, reducing shelter for wildlife,
as hedgerows and copses disappear
 Exposure of naked soil after harvesting by heavy equipment
 Monoculture, destabilizing the local ecosystem
 Dumping of non-biodegradable trash, such as plastics
 Invasive Species
 Climate change
 Loss of soil carbon
  Overcutting of vegetation occurs when people cut forests, woodlands and shrublands—to
obtain timber, fuelwood and other products—at a pace exceeding the rate of natural
regrowth. This is frequent in semi-arid environments, where fuelwood shortages are often
severe.
 Overgrazing is the grazing of natural pastures at stocking intensities above the
livestock carrying capacity; the resulting decrease in the vegetation cover is a leading
cause of wind and water erosion. It is a significant factor in Afghanistan. The growing
population pressure, during 1980–1990, has led to decreases in the already small areas
of agricultural land per person in six out of eight countries (14% for India and 21% for
Pakistan).
 Population pressure also operates through other mechanisms. Improper agricultural
practices, for instance, occur only under constraints such as the saturation of good lands
under population pressure which leads settlers to cultivate too shallow or too steep soils,
plough fallow land before it has recovered its fertility, or attempt to obtain multiple crops
by irrigating unsuitable soils.
 High population density is not always related to land degradation. Rather, it is the
practices of the human population that can cause a landscape to become degraded.
Populations can be a benefit to the land and make it more productive than it is in its
natural state. Land degradation is an important factor of internal displacement in many
African and Asian countries.[14]
 Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth's arable lands,
decreasing the wealth and economic development of nations. As the land resource base
becomes less productive, food security is compromised and competition for
dwindling resources increases, the seeds of famine and potential conflict are sown.

Causes of Land Degradation:

(a) Deforestation:
Deforestation is taking place at a faster rate due to increasing
demands of timber, fuel and forest products which results into
degradation of land resources.

(b) Overgrazing:
Overgrazing refers to excessive eating of grasses and other green
plants by cattle. It results into reduced growth of vegetation,
reduced diversity of plant species, excessive growth of unwanted
plant species, soil erosion, and degradation of land due to cattle
movement.

(c) Agricultural practises:
The modern agricultural practises, excessive use of fertilizers and
pesticides has adversely degraded the natural quality and fertility of
the cultivation land.

(d) Industrialization:
Development of industries for the economic growth of the country
leads to excessive deforestation and utilization of land in such as
way that it has lost its natural up gradation quality.

(e) Urbanization:
Increasing growth of population and demand for more residential
areas and commercial sectors is also one of the reasons for land
degradation.

Prevention and Control Measures for Land Degradation:

Following are some practises for controlling land degradation:

1. Strip farming:
It is & practice in which cultivated crops are sown in alternative
strips to prevent water movement.

2. Crop Rotation:
It is one of the agricultural practice in which different crops are
grown in same area following a rotation system which helps in
replenishment of the soil.

3. Ridge and Furrow Formation:

Soil erosion is one of the factors responsible for lad degradation. It
can be prevented by formation of ridge and furrow during irrigation
which lessens run off.

4. Construction of Dams:
This usually checks or reduces the velocity of run off so that soil
support vegetation.

5. Contour Farming:
This type of farming is usually practiced across the hill side and is
useful in collecting and diverting the run off to avoid erosion.