World’s Soil Resources

Sub-Regions. Inceptisols are the dominant soils covering 39.75 percent of the total area, followed by Entisols
(28.08 percent), Alfisols (13.55 percent), Vertisols (8.52 percent), Aridisols (4.28 percent), Ultisols (2.51 percent),
Mollisols (0.4 percent) and others (2.92 percent) (Bhattacharyya et al., 2013).
Degraded and wastelands of India
Velayutham and Bhattacharyya (2000) reported that the total area subject to soil degradation in India is 45.9
percent. Of this, 37.0 percent is affected by water erosion, followed by wind erosion (4.0 percent), salinization
(2.2 percent), loss of nutrients (1.1 percent) and waterlogging (1.6 percent). Land not fit for agriculture (icecaps,
salt-flats, arid mountain and rock outcrops) constitutes 5.5 percent of the total area. About 27.5 percent
of soils have no degradation problem and the remaining 9.8 percent of the area is classed as ‘stable terrain’,
e.g. natural conditions. Recently the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) inventoried the soil
degradation status of the country based on reconciliation of databases gathered from different organizations
(Figure 10.4 and Table 10.2). This confirmed that soil erosion by water is the most serious threat, affecting 82.57
percent of the total area, followed by wind erosion (12.40 percent), acidic soils (17.94 percent), salt-affected
soils (6.74 percent), waterlogged soils (0.88 percent) and mining and industrial waste (0.19 percent).
Figure 10.4 Degradation and wastelands map of India. Source: ICAR and NAAS, 2010.
Status of the World’s Soil Resources | Main Report Regional Assessment of Soil Changes
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in Asia