RECLAMATION AND MANAGEMENT

OF WASTELANDS WITH SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO INDIA

Presented by
Rekha yadav
Roll no. 03
MSc (P) EVS
 Contents
• Introduction
• Wasteland and its type
• Causes of wasteland formation
• Need for wasteland reclamation
• Wasteland reclamation-
A. Soil Management
B. Water Management
C. Crop Management
D. Bioremediation methods
• Plans for wasteland reclamation
• Casestudy
• Conclusion
• References
 Introduction
Land, a non-renewable resource, is central to all primary production
system . An ever increasing population places enormous demands
on land resources.
This is particularly acute in India, which has only 2.4 per cent of the
world's geographical area but supports over 16 per cent of the
world's population. It has 0.5 per cent of the world's grazing area
but has over 18 per cent of world's cattle population.
These pressures have led to drastic changes in the proportion of land
utilised for agricultural activities, urbanisation and industrial
development.
According to wasteland statistics survey of India spatial extent of
wasteland is 55.76Mha (16.96 percent of geographical area of
country 2015-16) .
 Wasteland and its types
According to national wasteland
development board , GoI
Land which is presently degraded and is lying
unutilised except current fallow land due to
different constrains.
The wasteland survey and reclamation
committee (1961) defined wastelands as
those lands which are either not available for
cultivation or left out of cultivation as fallows
and cultivable waste.

Source : researchgate.com
Wastelands map of India (generated using LISS-III
data of 2015-16)
 Causes of wasteland formation
• Soil erosion due to high speed wind and water
• Salinization, alkalization, inundation of land areas
• Natural factors like tsunami, floods and tidal actions
• Anthropogenic activities like improper agricultural practices in
terms of excessive usage fertilizers, pesticides, mono
cropping, improper disposal of industrial waste, illegal and
indiscriminate mining of minerals, Jhumming cultivation etc.
• Climate change and Environmental conditions like changing
rainfall pattern (arid, semiarid conditions)
• Management constraint
 Need for wasteland reclamation

Provides the source of income for rural people

Help in maintaining an ecological balance in
area
Maintains the local climatic conditions
Ensures a constant supply of fuel, fodder and
timber for local use
• Improves the soil fertility
 WASTELAND RECLAMATION

It is the process of turning barren, sterile land into fertile land suitable for
agriculture or vegetation and cultivation.
Reclamation means recovering physical structure of land to rebuild the
ecosystem. These lands can be reclaimed by Various methods:
i) Topography and Soil Management
ii) Water Management
iii) Crop Management
IV) Bioremediation methods

1.Soil management
Filling of gullies and leveling-filling stones in gullies
followed by compacting after placing soil over it.
Leveling of land to reduce water erosion
Course of water change or small check dams along
Planting grasses and bushes
E.g- Rajasthan chambal valley
Terracing –earth is shaped in form of
small leveled terraces inward slope
firm by placing stones and planting
grasses
Source : nature. Com
Scraping- used for soils covered with
2-3cm thick Layer of salts
Flushing: The method is used for lands where
water soluble salts accumulate over land surface
To remove these salts, the area is first filled with
water and allowed to remain there for few days.
The water is checked for its conductivity
so as to find that how much salts have dissolved.
The water is then flushed off.
Water should not be made to stand for long as
salts can leach down to the sub soil
Deep Ploughing: Fallow lands i.e. land
that is normally used for farming but
that is left with no crops for long time

Source: pinterest.
Drainage: Waterlogged soils are improved Com
by this method. Drainage systems may be
Sub-surface drainage and Underground drainage

Silt Trapping Dams : here big or small dams

of reasonable height can be constructed against
the course of water flow. Water is made to stand near
these traps for a while and silt particles settle down
thus reducing soil erosion

Source : EduRev. Com

Contour Furrowing and Bunding The method is
adopted for sloppy wasteland. The contours or
furrows are made to allow water to remain in contour
or to move at a slow speed and hence reduce
soil erosion by water. This increases Infiltration
of water leading to water conservation

Source : academia.edu

Mulching: The method is used to

conserve soil moisture during droughts and
when there are no rains. Mulches of dry
grass, polythene, chemical mulch etc. are
used to cover the soil surface. Mulching
also check soil erosion and
suppresses emergence of weed
Source : academia.edu
2.Water Management: Consists three options:

a. Addition of water irrigation- Various

methods used for irrigation depending on
the soil type, crop/vegetation type,
water availability etc. Mainly following techniques
are used for irrigation

b.Conservation of soil moisture-

Graded bunds- simple earthen embankments constructed
across the slope/ contour of the area are called contour bunds.
When these are constructed at pre-determined longitudinal grade,
they are known as graded bunds.
-Water Storage in Ditch
c.Drainage Source :
Springerlink.com
3.Crop management-
Growing suitable crops and their management is another approach
to reclaim wasteland.
Those crops selected for wastelands should have characteristics
like drought tolerant, minimum rate of transpiration,
less nutrient requirement etc.
Growing leguminous crops and ploughing them young in the soil. Source : ENVIS Centre On
plant and pollution
Multiple cropping, mixed cropping and crop rotation is done
Anola and Jatropha plantations- The Anola commonly called Amla is a minor
subtropical deciduous tree can withstand drought conditions and can grow in
neglected regions owing to its hardy nature.
Similarly, another plant preferred to reclaim waste lands is Jatropha. It can grow on
degraded soil and can resist drought conditions. The Seeds have high oil content
which can be used for bio diesel production.
Fuel Wood Plantations on Wastelands: The land which cannot use for
agricultural purposes can be planted with fast growing species of trees having
rotation cycle of 4-7 years .It can provide fuel wood and fodder for cattle .
 Bioremediation methods

• Process by which living beings such as plants,

algae and microorganisms are used to
remediate, reduce or remove contamination
from the environment (soil, water etc)
In-situ : bioremediation Ex – situ : polluted material is
takes place at the removed and degraded in
contaminated site, special facilities outside the
without the transfer of incident site.
polluted materials After excavation, the polluted
soil is transported elsewhere
for treatment.
Source : researchgate.com
 Plans for wasteland reclamation

• Ministry of agriculture , ministry of rural development , ministry of environment

and forest ,Ministry of water resources and state government –main agencies for
rehabilitation of degraded land.
• Integrated wasteland development program :
operation since 1989-90
Aim : checking land degradation, putting wastelands to sustainable use and
increasing the bio-mass availability, specially fuel, wood & fodder

.During the Tenth Plan it is proposed to undertake periodical updation of the

Wasteland Atlas and Annual Status of Land Record
 A case study of wasteland development plan in Jind
district (Haryana)
The district lies in the north- central part of Haryana between 29º03’ and 29º 51'
north latitudes and 75º53’ and 76º47' east longitudes. A standardized and widely
accepted classification system of wasteland amenable to delineation using
remote sensing prepared by NRSC, Department of Space, and Government of
India. Due to variability of Wasteland and terrain characteristics, ground truth in
the district was collected. Interpretation “key” were developed for various
Wasteland categories by modified as per the ground truth information and final
maps on 1: 50,000 scales were prepared.
Result and Discussion
• Degraded Pasture / grazing land:90.53% of
the study area, can be reclaimed by
plugging
• sand dunes land could be made fertile by
putting one or two cm thick layer of bio-
compost and then mixing that with soil by
plugging.
• Mining Dump 74.76 acres of the study area
reclaimed by proper disposal of solid waste
• Water logged areas reclaimed by
evapotranspiration
Conclusion
Wastelands of the study area reveal varying degree of
degradation or deterioration resulting from both
natural processes and human interferences. Among them few
wastelands could be reclaimed easily for
crop growing through some conservational measures and
management practices and few wastelands could
be reclaimed with great difficulty and only suitable for
afforestation or agro-forestry. So, it can be
concluded that authority or individuals who are directly or
indirectly associated with wastelands, may
approach towards the reclamation and management of
wasteland in an integrated manner abridging the
sense of socio-economic development and ecological
sustainability.
References

Tiwari D.N. And Singh M.P. (1996). Agroforestry and wastelands.

Series 1. Sundeep Prakashan, New Delhi. 163-168 pp.

Singh K., Pandey V.C., Singh B. And Singh R.R. (2012). Ecological
restoration of degraded sodic lands through afforestation and
cropping. Ecol. Eng., 43:70-80

Ramprasad J. (1998). Effectiveness of aerial seeding in reclamation of

chamabal ravines in Madya Predesh. Indian Forester, 114 (1): 1-18