APPROACH:

• Define land degradation.
• Describe the steps taken in the direction.
• Conclude by stating the need to restore the land fertility.

Answer:

According to the UNCCD, land degradation is the “reduction or loss of biological or economic productivity resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including human activities.”

When land degradation occurs in dry land areas, more specifically arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, it is referred to as desertification.

Steps taken by India to restore soil fertility:

• Integrated farming based approach incorporating fodder and fuelwood supply, farm-forestry and agroforestry and silvi-pastures; stall feeding, improved chullahs etc.
• Focus on water management, aquifer recharge and water budgeting as well as crop planning.
• Focus on social aspects: participative planning at micro-watershed level; Constitution of Watershed Committee under the Gram Sabha; Water User Association development; social audit.
• Involvement of Self-Help Groups (SHGs); programmes such as Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) focusing on increasing capabilities women farmers with a view to increasing sustainability.
• Adoption of climate-adaptation related solutions both with regard to floods and intense precipitation as well as temperature and moisture stress, and orienting employment generation programmes like MGNREGA in this direction.
• Increasing the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and ensuring "convergence" between Government programmes and programmes executed by PRIs.

Over 29% of India’s total geographical area (328.7 million hectare) is degraded. Globally, the extent of degradation in terms of losing soil fertility goes up to 40%. This has happened due to over-exploitation of land through unsustainable farming practices, mining and deforestation over the centuries. But if the current land degradation trends continue, it would disrupt food supply and lead to rapid biodiversity loss and species extinctions in this century itself.