Assessment of soil degradation and its impacts on agricultural production: a case of Sambalpur Distict Odisha

Abstract

Soil is the most vital resource for providing food to the ever increasing population, it is mandatory that widespread soil degradation is brought to a halt. Soil degradation is a global problem that negatively affects environmental quality and effects the agricultural production. Soil degradation is defined as a change in the soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. Degraded soils have a health status such, that they do not provide the normal goods and services of the particular soil in its ecosystem. Soil degradation can result in a partial or complete loss of current and/or future productive potential of the soil. Natural disasters and unsuitable land use can also cause soil degradation. Soil degradation is aggravated by soil salinity and acidity, which have a detrimental effect on agricultural productivity. These arde, a significant impediment to the most efficient use of land resources in semi-arid arid, and coastal areas. Soil depletion leads to a decrease in soil fertility, a decrease in vegetative cover, and a decrease in soil quality and quantity. There are various impacts of Soil Degradation on Agricultural Production. Impact refers to the effects of soil degradation on the various soil functions. Changes in soil and terrain properties (e.g., loss of topsoil, development of rills and gullies, exposure of hardpans in the case of erosion) may reflect the occurrence and intensity of soil degradation but not necessarily the seriousness of its impact. Removal of a 5-cm layer of soil may have a greater impact on a poor shallow soil than on a deep fertile soil. The impact depends on the function and/or use of the soil: a heavily compacted soil is unsuitable for agriculture. The major impact of soil degradation can affect crop growth and yield by decreasing root depth and available water and nutrient reserves and soil erosion can lead to yield loss by affecting soil organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents and soil ph. Soil degradation is a major environmental concern and needs attention through planning interventions and policies. Soil should be used rationally and conserved properly for realizing agricultural productivity on a sustainable basis. The main cause of soil degradation can be natural or human intervention which needs attention. Natural causes include earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, avalanches, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, tornadoes, and wildfires. Human-induced soil degradation results from land clearing and deforestation, inappropriate agricultural practices, improper management of industrial effluents and wastes, over-grazing, careless management of forests, urban sprawl, and commercial/industrial development. Inappropriate agricultural practices include excessive tillage and use of heavy machinery, excessive and unbalanced use of inorganic fertilizers, poor irrigation and water management techniques, pesticide overuse, inadequate crop residue and/or organic carbon inputs, removal of crop residues and excessive tillage and poor crop cycle planning. Sambalpur district is prone to soil degradation due to various factors. Soil erosion and surface runoff normally occurs due to rainfall and its intensity. It creates four main types of soil erosion, i.e., splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion, and gully erosion. Rill and gully erosion is observed in some parts of the district where topography is undulating and hilly. This thesis will focus on the assessment of soil quality degradation which is a major environmental concern and its impacts and implications on agricultural production. The aim of the study is Formulation of Planning interventions by assessing status of soil degradation and its impacts on agricultural production. There are four objectives to achieve the aim of the study. The first objective is to analyse the factors contributing to soil degradation. Then the second objective is to identify the study area and assess the agricultural losses due to soil degradation. Then the third objective is to document/explore the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding the issue of soil degradation. And the fourth objective is to propose the planning and policy-level interventions to address the issue of soil degradation. The scope of the study is to provide of proper land use planning. There will be provision of policies and planning interventions for agricultural practices, water management and to combat the issue of soil degradation. Planning interventions will be formulated at the watershed scale for the identified micro study area (villages) and policy-level interventions will be for the identified macro study area (Sambalpur district). The limitations of the study are the study will be limited to providing planning interventions and policies. The policies will not be dealing with types of crops to be grown. There are various farmer’s suicide cases in India due to loss of soil fertility and lack of crop productivity which is needed to be tackled through planning strategies and interventions. Thereby the seriousness of the problem of Soil Degradation must be taken into consideration and its impacts on agriculture as well. The methodology of the study begins with problem identification followed by the literature review where both conceptual and empirical literature has been covered in the study. The literature study helped to find the need of the study which is then followed by the formulation of aim and objectives. This will be further carried with the secondary data collection followed by the identification of the problematic areas with the help of mapping and qualitative analysis using GIS tools and techniques. Soil degradation is a growing problem especially in areas of agricultural activity where soil erosion not only leads to decreased agricultural productivity but also reduces water availability. Remote sensing and GIS techniques have become valuable tools specially when assessing erosion and degradation at larger scales due to the amount of data needed and the greater area coverage. There will be interviews with various stakeholders, authorities and departments. There will be documentation of the perception study of the various stakeholders regarding the issue of soil degradation. And finally, the strategies and measures will be suggested for the proposing site in the form of spatial and policy interventions. Planning interventions will be formulated at the watershed scale for the identified micro study area (villages) and policy-level interventions will be for the identified macro study area (Sambalpur district). The expected outcome of the study will be a set of planning and policy-level interventions related to land-use and land-cover management. This study will concentrate on the evaluation of deterioration of soil quality, which is a major environmental issue and Its effects on agricultural production and its consequences. There is a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness and efficiency of soil conservation policies and planning interventions in agriculture and there is a little understanding of how policy measures should be designed to encourage farmers to adopt soil conservation practices. The severity of the issue of soil quality deterioration and its effects on agriculture must therefore also be taken into account. Some agricultural practices such as continuous cropping with limited supply of organic amendments, using high analysis chemical fertilizers, removal of crop residues and excessive tillage are the reasons for soil degradation. The negative effects of faulty agricultural practices on soils of the concerned areas are: decline in soil organic carbon, loss of soil fertility and contamination of soil with arsenic. Improper crop rotation coupled with lack of proper soil and water conservation measures are important reasons contributing to soil degradation. Agricultural production in marginal areas with low Soil Organic Matter due to unsuitable cropping patterns has been the major cause of accelerated wind and leads to limited soil life and the poor soil structure. Puddling of soil for paddy rice water erosion. Urgent measures are required to arrest the degradation process and to restore productivity of degraded soils so that more food could be produced to provide livelihood and environmental security to the increasing population.