Management of Degraded Lands and Soil Health

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Land degradation: problems and prospects/G.P. Verma. 2. Land degradation and managing ravine for today and tomorrow/Akhilesh Singh, Subhash Thakur and Avinash S. Tomar. 3. Chambal ravines, perspectives of formations and management options/S.K. Verma and Akhilesh Singh. 4. Watershed based reclamation and control of Chambal ravines/G.P. Verma. 5. Modeling soil erosion from watershed/M.K. Hardaha. 6. Silvipastoral practices for wasteland rehabilitation, animal production and ecosystems services/D.R. Palsaniya. 7. Restoration of soil health of degraded lands via carbon sequestration: a win-win green strategy for ensuring food security/R.K. Rattan. 8. Impact of climate change on resource management/U.P.S. Bhadauria, S.K. Sharma, Sanjay Jain and Avinash Singh Tomar. 9. Soil and environmental pollution: causes and remedial measures/B.L. Sharma. 10. Biological indicators of soil quality/D.L.N. Rao. 11. Effectiveness of soil and water conservation measures for resource conservation in black soils of Malwa region/D.H. Ranade. 12. Resource conservation technologies: a prospective of Central India/Y.P. Singh and Sudhir Singh. 13. Integrated nutrient management: key for improving soil health and sustainability/Hitendra K. Rai. 14. Soil quality under intensive cropping systems in Central India/V.K. Kharche. 15. Nutrient management: a key to soil health and long-term sustainability/Muneshwar Singh. 16. Soil health management though farming system approach/B. Gangwar. 17. Risk assessment of metal contaminated soils/S.P. Datta. 18. Management of salt affected soils for sustainable agriculture/V.K. Kharche. 19. Biodiversity and its conservation/S.S. Tomar and Akhilesh Singh. 20. Application of soil surveys for land evaluation/Shashi S. Yadav and B.K. Rajput. Index.

Land degradation is a concept in which the value of bio-physical environment is adversely affected. Land is the basic natural resource that provides habitat and sustenance for living organisms, as well as being a major focus of economic activities. Degradation of land refers to loss of its potential production capability as a result of degradation of soil quality and also its loss for effective use. The functional capabilities of soil deteriorate from activities related to agriculture, forestry, and industry. On the other hand urban sprawling and infrastructure development cause loss of available land. Natural events such as cyclones and floods cause land loss, and can also deteriorate functional capabilities of soil. The problems of land degradation are prevalent in many forms throughout the country. The book contains all about these problems and solutions.