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

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
times, 100 times, and 10 times higher under cultivated fallow respectively,
indicating the huge benefits of mixed crop systems involving perennials as
soil cover (Table 3).
TABLE 3: SOIL LOSS UNDER DIFFERENT LAND USE SYSTEMS IN SHIVALIKS
(SOURCE: GREWAL,2000)
Land Use
Systems
No. of
Years of
Observa-tions
Soil Loss
(ton ha −1 )
Runoff
(% of
Total
Rainfall)
Nitrogen
(N) Loss
(kg ha −1 )
Potassium
(K) Loss
(kg ha −1 )
Eucalyptus-Bhabar
grass
Acacia catechu–
forage grass
6 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.9
3 0.2 2.0 7.0 0.5
Leucaena-Napier grass 3 0.3 4.4 6.6 1.2
Teak - Leucaena-Bhabar 3 0.4 3.3 2.1 0.6
Eucalyptus-Leucaena-Turmeric
5 0.6 2.6 2.5 0.7
Poplar-Leucaena-Bhabar 5 1.5 4.8 5.9 1.1
Sesamum - Rapeseed 3 2.7 20.5 42.5 3.0
Cultivated fallow 3 5.6 23.0 51.3 5.0
In forests, a high proportion of surface runoff percolates into the ground and
becomes subsurface runoff, due to the high infiltration capacity of forest soils and
leaf litter. As a result, runoff from forested areas, as compared with open ground,
is more uniform, and usually forested watersheds are characterized by lower
maximum and higher minimum water discharges (Shiklomanov, 2009).
During events of rainfall and melting of ice, such regulation of runoff by forest
soils (with leaf litter on the surface) protects the soil from water erosion, and also
water bodies like rivers and lakes from excessive loading with sediments.
Annexures
435