Land Resources, Soil Erosion & Conservation in India

I. Land Resources in India ├── Importance │ ├── Basis of life, agriculture, industry │ ├── Supports vegetation, wildlife, transport │ └── Finite resource – needs careful planning ├── Relief Features │ ├── Plains (43%) – fertile, agriculture/industry │ ├── Mountains (30%) – rivers, forests, tourism │ └── Plateaus (27%) – minerals, forests, fossil fuels II. Land Use Pattern in India ├── Forests ├── Land Not Available for Cultivation │ ├── Barren & Waste Land │ └── Non-agricultural Use (buildings, roads) ├── Other Uncultivated Land │ ├── Pastures │ ├── Tree crops/groves │ └── Culturable Waste ├── Fallow Lands │ ├── Current fallow (1 year) │ └── Other fallow (1–5 years) └── Net Sown Area (NSA) & Gross Cropped Area III. Land Degradation ├── Human Factors │ ├── Mining (Jharkhand, Odisha, MP) │ ├── Deforestation │ ├── Overgrazing (Rajasthan, Gujarat) │ ├── Over-irrigation (Punjab, Haryana) │ └── Industrial Effluents & Dust └── Consequences ├── Decreased fertility ├── Pollution └── Reduced productivity IV. Soil as a Resource ├── Characteristics │ ├── Renewable │ ├── Medium for plant growth │ ├── Living system (humus, microorganisms) │ └── Forms over millions of years ├── Soil Profile │ ├── Topsoil (humus, nutrients) │ ├── Subsoil (sand, silt, clay) │ ├── Weathered rock │ └── Bedrock V. Types of Soil in India ├── Alluvial – fertile, Indo-Gangetic plains ├── Black (Regur) – cotton, Deccan Trap ├── Red & Yellow – Deccan plateau, iron-rich ├── Laterite – leached, acidic, Karnataka, Kerala ├── Arid – desert, sandy, Rajasthan └── Forest – mountainous, humus-rich in valleys VI. Soil Erosion ├── Definition: Loss of topsoil due to wind/water ├── Causes │ ├── Human: deforestation, mining, overgrazing, poor farming │ └── Natural: wind, water, glaciers ├── Types │ ├── Gully (deep ravines – Chambal) │ ├── Sheet (surface wash) │ └── Wind (dry areas) VII. Soil Conservation Techniques ├── Mechanical │ ├── Contour Ploughing │ ├── Terrace Farming │ └── Strip Cropping ├── Vegetative │ ├── Afforestation │ ├── Shelter Belts │ └── Sand Dune Stabilization └── Waste Management ├── Industrial treatment ├── Grazing control └── Waste land recovery VIII. Conservation Philosophy ├── Gandhiji │ ├── "Enough for need, not for greed" │ └── Advocated ethical use of resources ├── Brundtland Commission (1987) │ ├── 'Sustainable Development' │ └── "Our Common Future" Report └── Earth Summit (1992) – Global framework for sustainability