How can quality of land maintained and protected from degeration
Answers
Answer:
India’s land is undergoing degradation or desertification. In 2011-2013, it stood at 29.3 percent of the total land, representing an increase of 0.57 percent (which is 1.87 million hectares in area) compared with 2003-2005
Soil erosion due to water and wind, and degradation of vegetation cover the main processes that has led to land degradation.
Almost 90 percent of the states experienced in a Delhi and the northeastern states – in land degradation in 2011-2013 compared with 2003-2005 while 4 states showed slight decreases in land degradation.
Reclaiming degraded lands will require a strict land-use policy and better watershed management initiatives, say experts.
Land degradation can exacerbate climate change and threaten agricultural productivity, water quality, biodiversity, sustainable development, and the living conditions of humans and wildlife, among other effects. Globally, a third of our land is degraded, affecting 3 billion people, and it is expected to worsen with rising demand for food.
Answer:
Ways to conserve soil from land degradation:
→Ploughing along contour lines can decelerate the flow of flow of water down the slopes. this is called contour ploughing.
→Steps can be cut out on the slopes making terraces. Terrace cultivation restricts erosion. ex: Western and Central Himalayas.
→Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of grass are left to grow between the crops. this method is known as strip cropping.
→Planting lines of trees to create shelter also works in a similar way.
→These shelter belts have contributed significantly to the stabilisation of sand dunes and in stabilising the desert in Western India.
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