Indian soils are suffering from a number of problems like (i) soil erosion, (ii) fertility loss, (iii) desertification, (iv) water logging, (v) salinity and alkalinity, (vi) wasteland (vii) urbanisation and transport development, and (viii) interference of man.
Soil Erosion
Soil erosion is the gradual removal of the top soil cover by natural agencies like water, wind etc and also by animal and human interference.
The problem of soil erosion is taking a menacing form in a country like India characterised by heavy downpour of rainfall as a result of which lakhs of tones of fertile soil is being washed away by running water during rainy season. Similarly loose particles of top soil are blown by wind in arid and semi-arid regions of north-western India. According to one estimate about 175 million ha (53% of the country’s total area) land area is affected by the problem of soil erosion.
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On the basis of quantity of soil erosion it can be classified into two broad categories: (a) normal soil erosion where the rate of soil erosion is slower than the pathogenic process, and (b) catastrophic soil erosion where the rate of soil erosion is faster than the rate of soil formation. This leads to the removal of the top soil cover and exposure of the bed rock. H. Jenny has devised following formula to determine the stage of soil erosion:
The agencies of erosion are water, wind and sea waves. Of this water erosion is more pronounced in India. Water erosion is of three types- (i) the uniform removal of soil from the sloping surface is called sheet or surface erosion, (ii) the formation of finger-shaped grooves is called rill erosion, and (iii) the enlargement of the rills leads to the gully formation and gully erosion which converts the land into ravines and badlands. The Chhos of northern Haryana and Punjab and the badlands (ravines) of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are the results of gully erosion in India.
Wind erosion is effective in arid and arid areas of north-western India (Rajasthan adjoining areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and where soil particles are blown away by wind sand storms making the area devoid of soil co Windblown sand also envelops the top soil adjoining areas and makes it infertile. Thousands hectares of fertile lands of western U.P., Punjab Haryana are being swallowed by the advent’ desert through this process.
The tidal water of the sea cause considers damage to the soil along the sea-coast. The rushi waves dash against the sea-coast and break hanging cliff rocks. The broken material is t removed by the retreating sea waves. Severe erosion of beaches along the Kerala coast is evidenced by uprooting of coconut trees. This type of sea erosion is seen throughout the eastern and western coasts the country.