Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
TABLE 2: ESTIMATES ON THE ANNUAL DIRECT COST OF LAND DEGRADATION IN INDIA
Parameters
NRSA
(1990)
Sehgal and Abrol
(1994)
Area affected by soil erosion (M ha) 31.5 166.1
Area affected by salinization,
alkalinization, and waterlogging (M ha)
3.2 21.7
Total area affected by land degradation (M ha) 34.7 187.7
Cost of soil erosion in lost nutrients (Rs. billion) 18.0 98.3
Cost of soil erosion in lost production (Rs. billion) 67.6 361.0
Cost of salinization, alkalinization, and
water logging in lost production (Rs. billion)
7.6 87.6
Total direct cost of land degradation (Rs. billion) 75.2 448.6
In another comprehensive study made on the impact of water erosion on crop
productivity, it was found that soil erosion due to water resulted in an annual crop
production loss of 13.4 Mt in cereal, oil seeds, and pulse crops equivalent to ~USD
162 billion (Sharda. et.al., 2010).
4.4. MANAGEMENT OF SOIL DEGRADATION
Prevention and restoration of soil degradation is one of the major strategies
suggested. For preventing and restoring soil degradation, controlling soil erosion
and sedimentation will be the main issues. Once this is addressed, the associated
risks of eutrophication of surface water and contamination of groundwater,
combating desertification and enhancing soil carbon sequestration to improve soil
quality/productivity and mitigating the greenhouse effect will all be taken care of.
The widely practiced monoculture system with short duration crops under
intensive tillage, which is highly prone to soil degradation, needs to be replaced
with a multi crop system, as present in an open forest system, to conserve the
soil. An alternative cropping system with perennial horticultural or forestry
tree components integrated with forage, green manure, and other food crops as
Annexures
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