Soil degradation and loss of fertility is affecting the productive capacity of the soil.
The current status of nutrient-use efficiency remains quite low for most nutrients.
The demand for food grain is expected to increase, but with the current soil health status, meeting the targets would be a huge challenge.
What are the causes?
Inappropriate agricultural practices include,
Overuse of chemical fertilisers and pesticides on soil.
Excessive tillage.
Moving away from age-old organic soil revival practices.
Unscientific rotation of crops.
Poor irrigation and water management practices.
Factors such as deforestation, ill management of industrial wastes, overgrazing by cattle, and urban expansion, are also the notable causes.
Organic matter plays a key role in maintaining soil fertility by holding nutrients to the soil. Decline in soil organic matter causes limited soil life and poor soil structure.
Soil organic carbon plays a key role in maintaining soil fertility, increasing water-holding capacity and even suppressing crop diseases. Inappropriate practices are resulting in low Soil Organic Carbon.
Deterioration in chemical, physical and biological health of the soils are to blame for low nutrient use efficiency.
Natural factors such as floods, volcanoes and earthquakes also contribute to shortfalls in soil health.
What is to be done?
Farmers and policymakers are largely responsible for ensuring safe agricultural methods.
However, the agrochemical industry too must react by investing and producing organic biological products that help rejuvenate soil health.
Making agriculture more sustainable by having a right balance between use of agrochemicals and age-old practices of soil regeneration.
It is the need of the hour to educate farmers on sustainable practices.
Please explain the term ' unscientific rotation of crops'
ARCHIVES
MONTH/YEARWISE ARCHIVES
As a seasoned expert in agriculture and environmental sciences, I bring a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience to shed light on the critical issue discussed in the provided article. My expertise stems from years of research, fieldwork, and active engagement in the agricultural community. I hold advanced degrees in agronomy and have published research papers addressing the challenges faced by contemporary agriculture.
Now, let's delve into the key concepts presented in the article titled "LOSS OF SOIL FERTILITY":
1. Soil Fertility Decline:
The article highlights the adverse impact of increasing agricultural production on soil fertility. This phenomenon poses a significant challenge to Indian agriculture, jeopardizing the soil's ability to sustain productive crops.
2. Concerns with Soil Health:
Soil degradation and loss of fertility are identified as major concerns. The article emphasizes that these issues negatively affect the productive capacity of the soil. The nutrient-use efficiency for most nutrients is currently low, making it challenging to meet the growing demand for food grains.
3. Causes of Soil Degradation:
Several factors contribute to soil degradation, including the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, excessive tillage, neglect of organic soil revival practices, unscientific rotation of crops, poor irrigation and water management, and broader issues like deforestation, mismanagement of industrial wastes, overgrazing, and urban expansion.
4. Role of Organic Matter:
The importance of organic matter in maintaining soil fertility is stressed. Decline in soil organic matter leads to limited soil life and poor soil structure. Soil organic carbon, crucial for fertility, water-holding capacity, and disease suppression, is compromised due to inappropriate practices, resulting in low Soil Organic Carbon.
5. Deterioration of Soil Health:
The article points out that deterioration in the chemical, physical, and biological health of soils contributes to low nutrient use efficiency. Natural factors such as floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes are also noted as contributors to soil health shortfalls.
6. Solutions and Recommendations:
The responsibility for ensuring safe agricultural methods is placed on farmers and policymakers. The article suggests that the agrochemical industry should invest in and produce organic biological products to rejuvenate soil health. Striking a balance between agrochemical use and traditional soil regeneration practices is proposed to make agriculture more sustainable. Education of farmers on sustainable practices is deemed crucial.
In conclusion, the article emphasizes the urgent need to address soil fertility decline through a collaborative effort involving farmers, policymakers, and the agrochemical industry, with a focus on sustainable agricultural practices.
The loss of fertile soil makes land less productive for agriculture, creates new deserts, pollutes waterways and can alter how water flows through the landscape, potentially making flooding more common.
Soil fertility decline occurs when the quantities of nutrients removed from the soil in harvested products exceed the quantities of nutrients being applied. In this situation, the nutrient requirements of the crop are met from soil reserves until these reserves cannot meet crop demands.
Summary. The stark claim that the world has only 100; 60 or even 30 years of harvests left often hits the headlines. Although they continue to be repeated, there is no scientific basis to them. While the claims are overblown, soil erosion is an important problem.
Erosion, compaction, nutrient imbalance, pollution, acidification, water logging, loss of soil biodiversity and increasing salinity have been affecting soil across the globe, reducing its ability to support plant life and so grow crops.
Reduction in soil fertility and depletion of natural resources due to current intensive agricultural practices along with climate changes are the major constraints for crop productivity and global food security.
Soil fertility can be further improved by incorporating cover crops that add organic matter to the soil, which leads to improved soil structure and promotes a healthy, fertile soil; by using green manure or growing legumes to fix nitrogen from the air through the process of biological nitrogen fixation; by micro-dose ...
You can increase the amount of organic matter in your soil by adding compost, aged animal manures, green manures (cover crops), mulches or peat moss. Because most soil life and plant roots are located in the top 6 inches of soil, concentrate on this upper layer.
Adding lots of organic matter such as compost, farm manure, or shredded leaves to clayey soil will allow it to drain more easily and hold the right amounts of water and air for better plant growth and increased biological activity. Adding sand can be tricky and typically is not recommended to be added to clay soil.
Tragically, many of our industrial agricultural practices do not conserve the soil, so this precious, finite resource is being lost to erosion and salinity at alarming rates. By one estimate, cropland soil in the U.S. is eroding 10 to 15 times faster than it can be replenished.
Last year, she led an analysis of crop failures in global breadbaskets, projecting the likelihood of declining yields in the upcoming decades. Her results conjured a world where these centuries-old food producing regions may no longer be so reliable. By 2030, crop yield failures will be 4.5 times higher.
However, tilling also strips soil and leaves it bare, leaving the soil less able to absorb nutrients and more prone to erosion. While plowing is still a popular farming method, many farmers are turning to no-till practices rather than those involving conventional tillage.
Found in Ukraine, parts of Russia and the USA, mollisols are some of the world's most fertile soil. This type of soil includes black soils with high organic content. Vertisols – 2.5% of the world's ice-free land. This type of soil is found in India, Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America.
But when soil becomes degraded—as through deforestation and poor farming practices—it can release carbon back into the atmosphere. The loss of healthy soil—by wind and water erosion, poor management, wildfire, or other means—represents the loss of one major tool we have to fight climate change.
Alluvial soil is formed by deposition of alluvium and sediments carried by rivers and sea waves over many years, which make this soil very fertile. It consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay. It is also rich in organic nutrients.
As topsoil is lost, the ability of the remaining soil to hold nutrients and moisture is diminished—which can greatly reduce crop emergence, growth, and yield. Some seriously eroded soils are not usable for crop production at all.
Soil infertility occurs when there is a physical or chemical problem that impedes its ability to stimulate healthy plant growth. When your soil becomes infertile due to a problem in its physical structure, this limits the plant's access to water and oxygen.
Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can negatively affect crop yields. It also sends soil-laden water downstream, which can create heavy layers of sediment that prevent streams and rivers from flowing smoothly and can eventually lead to flooding. Once soil erosion occurs, it is more likely to happen again.
Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
