Concentrations

Concentrations
Land is a natural resource that is essential for the existence of life and is the variable
factors for which management has become most essential.
Land provides food, fuel, fodder and shelter besides supporting secondary and other
economic life supporting system. However there has been a continuous depletion of land
resources and the quality of land is deteriorating due to various factors like soil erosion
caused mainly due to shifting cultivation, large scale deforestation, reckless mining
activities, overgrazing, general mismanagement etc. Such soil erosion lead to degradation
of soils’ physical property and loss of plant nutrients.
It takes nature 600-1000 years to build 2.5 cm of top soil but get displaced in a year due to misuse, as a result it become the harmful single factor in the deterioration of productive land. It has been proved that soil lost from unprotected land is about 120 tons ha-1 yr-1 and may go as high as 300 tons ha-1 yr-1.
Thus, a part from depletion of fertile soil erosion results in the loss of run-off water, plant
nutrients and micro flora, siltation of reservoirs and riverbeds thereby adversely affecting
irrigation and power potential; causing floods in plain and valley which damage crops,
animals, habitation, communication etc. But most of all it adversely affect agricultural
production, forest production and availability of water both for irrigation and drinking
besides bringing about a disturbance in the soil and water balance. So, Objective of Soil Conservation
· Enhancing and sustaining productivity of available land stock for primary production
systems of crop cultivation livestock raising and forest management.
· Generating additional employment opportunities and income through secured
livelihood in rural areas.
· Maintaining beneficial relationship between land and water cycles and deter /
moderate hazards of droughts and flood.
· Retarding Watershed degradation caused by deforestation, soil erosion,
sedimentation, land degradation and hydrologic deterioration of the watersheds.
· Locating, reclaiming and developing cultivable wastelands, fallows other than current
fallows and degraded lands to meet increasing and competing demands for additional land stock for various sectors.