The DDP, which is based on the simultaneous roles and complex feedbacks among the meteorological, ecological, and human dimensions of this problem, provides a roadmap (not a recipe) for thinking about drylands management issues. For reasons outlined above, poor farmers are led to clear forest, cultivate steep slopes without conservation, overgraze rangelands, make unbalanced fertilizer applications, and the other causes noted above. Roger R.B. Consequently, biological productivity of the land drops and sand dunes start to form. Land degradation has been advanced as ‘the single most pressing current global problem’ (O'Riordan 2000). The issue of land degradation is further contributing to the loss of production. Farmers were obliged by law to comply with conservation planning regulations and procedures. Leakey, in Multifunctional Agriculture, 2017. Continuous cropping activities on a piece of land leads to land degradation.This land degradation is a result of uprooting of farm produce, use farm machine, wearing away of topmost soil due to … Desertification (land degradation in drylands) is the loss of biological and economic productivity, and biodiversity in arid and semiarid croplands, pastures, rangelands, and subhumid woodlands of the world. Land degradation therefore increases the vulnerability of marginal environments and societies. The Land Husbandry Branch was formed in 1960 to undertake land use planning. As a consequence, crop yields decline as the soil fertility is depleted. At least 25% of the world's land area is affected by desertification to some degree. In terms of the affected land area, Asia suffers the most, with more than 1.3 billion hectares of dry lands degraded. Humans have cut, grazed, and burned these lands for thousands of years, leaving virtually no natural vegetation and resulting in extensive soil erosion. There are now a large number of environmental risk assessment models available with which a particular agricultural land use and management can be assessed from the point of view of likely damage to the environment (Plentinger and Penning de Vries, 1996). In this highly interactive cycle, a desire for security and wealth drives deforestation, overgrazing, and unsustainable use of soils and water, all of which cause agroecosystem degradation. Privacy Policy 8. Asa L. Aradottir, Dagmar Hagen, in Advances in Agronomy, 2013. 2 billion people and the impact of its effects will only grow with time. An optimum mix of fertilizer, along with sound crop management practices is required for reducing the issue of land degradation. Concern about degradation, particularly the processes of soil erosion, has fuelled many campaigns to combat it, and spawned numerous institutions to address it. James F. Reynolds, in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 2001. It is especially a problem in Africa, Asia, and South America. 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. Report a Violation, Land Degradation: Mechanisms and Causes of Land Degradation, Land Degradation: 9 Main Causes of Land Degradation, Mineral Resources: Useful Notes on the Types and Uses of Mineral Resources. This has resulted in reduction of soil water holding capacity of the known spring water sources and base flow of streams, which are known to be vital sources of residual soil moisture and domestic water sources. Hailey's (1938) African Survey called it the ‘scourge of Africa,’ providing the reader with images of sediment-choked rivers and barren hillsides. Yet, there is no doubt that the sustained research and institutional effort in the US, spurred originally by the Dust Bowl era, has not only raised awareness of land degradation but also done much to conserve that nation's soils today. Examples include:-. Degradation status of global land in crops, permanent pasture, forest, and woodlands, S.A. Moges, A.S. Gebregiorgis, in Climate Vulnerability, 2013. Ecological restoration is identified as one of several key activities that can reverse this trend (MEA, 2005a). This type of farming is usually practiced across the hill side and is useful in collecting and diverting the run off to avoid erosion. The dominant cause varies on the land type. Farmers in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya are therefore more vulnerable to undergoing desertification than others. Copyright 10. The reduced fertility and the increased water stress cause the land's productivity to drop, which then further degrades the vegetation cover. It is becoming increasingly evident that allowing the land to degrade is expensive both for the local owners and land users and the society and communities not only in the short term but also in the longer term (Costanza et al., 1997). They are highly adapted to climatic variability and water stress, but also extremely vulnerable to damaging human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural practices, which cause land degradation. As the vegetation cover decreases, soil compaction occurs as a result of the livestock trampling and rain drop tapping, which increases the proportion of fine materials in the top soil, thus accelerating soil erosion. Figure 10. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro revived interest. This small amount of rainfall is concentrated within a short period known as the wet season, ranging from several weeks in arid areas to several months in semi-arid areas; dry conditions similar to desert climate persist during the rest of the year. The major causes of land degradation include, land clearance poor farming practices, overgrazing, inappropriate irrigation, urban sprawl, and commercial development, land pollution including industrial waste and quarrying of stone, sand and minerals. It is due mainly to nonsustainable human activities, such as overcultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, and poor irrigation practices and is often triggered or exacerbated by climate variability, mainly drought. The water-holding capacity of a degraded soil is only a fraction of a virgin soil. Conversion of primary to ... intensive nature of … Agricultural practices also emit non-CO 2 greenhouse gases from soils and these 15 emissions are exacerbated by climate change (medium confidence). 5. Land degradation is defined as the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land, and the diminution of the productive potential, including its major land uses (e.g., rain-fed arable, irrigation, forests), its farming systems (e.g., smallholder subsistence), and its value as an economic resource. The International Food Policy Research Institute uses such data to show that, while food production may largely be maintained by ever-increasing inputs, there are ‘hotspots’ of serious land degradation in vulnerable places such as north-east Thailand, northern China, and many African drylands (Scherr and Yadav 1996). The figure shows that very severe degradation occurred in northern Ethiopia (the food basket area), Sudan, and part of Somalia. The modern agricultural practises, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides has adversely degraded the natural quality and fertility of the cultivation land. This leads to what is called the yield gap in food crops, which is the difference between the yield potential of new modern varieties and the yield actually achieved by a farmer (Tittonell and Giller, 2013). However, microbially produced biosurfactants have advantages over plant-based surfactants due to scale-up capacity, rapid production, and multifunctional properties. LAND DEGRADATION IN GUJARAT: AN OVERVIEW 279 Jr. of Industrial Pollution Control 31(2)(2015) pp 279-284 ... Degradation, Water, Deforestation, Population, Agriculture ABSTRACT Land degradation can be considered in terms of the loss of actual or potential productivity or utility as a result of natural or anthropic factors; it is the decline in land quality or reduction in its productivity. Its importance for sustainable development and conservation efforts has been rising in recent years (Hobbs et al., 2011; Roberts et al., 2009), which is manifested in the growing role of ecological restoration in regional and global environmental policy and in the provision of ecosystem services (Bullock et al., 2011). There are different causes for the different types/forms of land degradation, and causes may differ from one country or state/province to another (depending on factors like agricultural practices, other environmental pollution factors and so on). Plant-based biosurfactants have excellent emulsification properties, although they are expensive to produce on an industrial scale. In this way, they can change the enzyme conformation structure, thus, altering the enzyme specificity, activity, and functions (Kamiya et al., 2000) and consequently improve the degradation of chemical contaminants. FAO has a mandate to: support its member countries and partners in developing or reforming norms, standards and policies; provide technical advice; and implement national and local programmes through capacity development and technical knowledge management activities. Land degradation resulting from various natural and anthropogenic activities including the loss of organic matter, decline in soil fertility, erosion, and the effects of toxic chemicals is a serious global environmental problem and it may be triggered by climate change (DeFries et al., 2012; Lal, 1997). However, the general lack of understanding and awareness about the root causes of land degradation persists, thus the slow progress in reversing the alarming trends of land degradation and land abandonment. Deforestation and inappropriate agricultural practices especially on sloping lands often lead to soil … The desert has been unjustly thought of by some as the cause of desertification because semi-arid areas surround desert. So reports the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent intergovernmental body set up by UN member states, in a new summary for policy makers. The annual rate of growth in food production and yield peaked during the early years of the Green Revolution, but it has declined since the 1980s (GoI 2004 83 pp.). In particular, the availability, distribution, and use of water underlies many of the contemporary themes of land degradation. In an attempt to make the concept more meaningful, Leakey (2010) added some steps to a conceptual diagram of the land degradation and social deprivation cycle. The causes of land degradation can be divided into natural hazards, direct causes, and underlying causes. In colonial Africa, for example, the Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland funded the largest ever soil conservation research program on the continent between 1953 and 1965 to investigate rates of erosion and runoff, as well as the effectiveness of conservation and types of land use. Such factors include access to markets, land tenure, and local governance; external factors, such as natural disasters and conflict and war; and economic drivers, such as international policy and trade agreements. These factors make dry lands subject to anthropogenic desertification. Understanding the complexity of the numerous and interacting socioeconomic and biophysical causal factors underlying land degradation and the problems of modern agriculture in the tropics and subtropics is difficult. Land degradation is a global problem largely related to agricultural use, deforestation and climate change. 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