Chapter 8

SOIL
• Soil – 30% of Earth surface. 60% hostile,
40% habitable
• Rock substratum, Soil substratum
• Soil formation: Chemical, Mechanical,
Biological
• Soil Types: loam – 40% sand; 40% silt; 20%
clay
• Soil Profile: Horizons O,A,E,B,C,R
• Soil Water: Infiltration, Capillary, Gravity,
Evapo-transpiration, Climate
• Soil Organisms: Bacteria, Algae, Fungi,
Protozoan, Worms
Soil Types
Soil Profile
Soil Water
Soil Organisms
 Soil Erosion
• Natural factors
Water –Sheet wash–shifting topsoil uniformly
Rilling – small erosion channels
Gullying – large erosion channels

Wind – Dry, flat soil

Gravity – Creep –
Clips – lumps of soil
Landslide – large slips
• Human factors
Deforestation, Overgrazing, Agriculture
Soil Erosion
Soil Erosion
 Soil Conservation
• Biological –
• Stubble planting,
• Mulching,
• Cover crops,
• Inter cropping,
• Crop rotation,
• Afforestation,
• Fencing
• Mechanical
• Contour ploughing,
• Strip planting,
• Terraces,
• Reduced tillage
Soil Conservation
Soil Class:
Like biological taxonomy edaphology also has a system
of classification such as orders, suborders, groups, sub
groups, families, classes etc. There mainly 11 orders.
The following are some of these:
Mollisol – it is fertile dark soil found in grass lands-
US, Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia, Argentina etc.
Oxisol / Ultisol– it is the soil with iron and aluminum
oxides in its B zone. It is found in the tropics of South
America, Africa, and Asia.
Alfisol – it is the weathered forest soil. It is found in
temperate biomes.
Aridosol – it is dry soil found in deserts. It supports a
few vegetations
Histosol- it is the soil found in marshy areas. It is rich
in water and organic matter
Desertification:
The process of denuding and degrading the once
fertile land into inhospitable barren terrain by
natural or anthropogenic activities is called
desertification. There are three types of deserts
namely, Hyper arid, where the rain fall is less than
2.5 cm annually eg. Sahara; Arid, where the rainfall
is less than 5cm/yr eg. Mexican deserts; and Semi
arid, where the rainfall is below 10cm/yr eg. Aizona,
Kalahari etc.
Desertification characterizes mainly:
Reduced plant cover
Reduced top soil cover
Reduced soil moisture reserve
The present global rate of desertification is estimated
to be at 200,000 sq. km per year.
Causes:
Natural
1. Topography: If a land is located in the
middle of a continent away from the oceans it
is most likely to become a desert. E.g. Gobi
[China], Kalahari [Africa], Arabian deserts.
2. Dust storms: Periodic storms may cause
wind erosion by removing valuable top soil E.g
Gobi, Mexican deserts.
3. Climatic conditions: The climate of a place
where the rainfall is below 50cm/yr and the
average temperature is above 30ºC eventually
becomes a desert.
Anthropogenic
1. Deforestation: About 1,70,000 sq.kms. of forest are disappearing
annually. Population growth, expansion of agriculture etc. are responsible
for deforestation. Denuded land will soon become a desert. E.g. Forests of
Madagascar, Great Plains of North America
2. Urbanization: Land use shift from agricultural to industrial, increased
density of population are the reasons for urbanization. Urbanization
results in desertification literally or in concrete jungles.
3. Overgrazing: Ranching activities eliminate tall tree cover in the area.
Herding in ranch lands removes vegetative cover. With increased demand
for meat and other dairy products the carrying capacity of ranch lands is
exceeded resulting in desertification. E.g. Sahel of Africa, South America,
Australia.
4. Over irrigation: Excessive irrigation raises the level of the water
table and thus makes the soil so saturated with salts that plants cannot
grow. E.g. Imperial valley USA
5. Mining: Several mining operations all over the globe remove the top
cover and dump huge masses of soil creating deserts. E.g. Kudemukh in
Mangalore, Duck town, Tennessee.
6. Nuclear activity: The land used for nuclear explosions becomes a
desert because radioactivity destroys biota in the area. E.g Pokhran
Desertification
Desertification by drought, overgrazing & erosion
Desertification by over irrigation & salt deposition
Control of desertification
•Planting more xerophytes that
can withstand drought conditions.
•Cutting down wind erosion by
planting rows of trees around arid
lands.
•Reduce ranching and
overgrazing activities.
 Land Use
Land use depends on Bioclimatic conditions:
• Wet tropical – oxisol/ ultisol
• Desert - aridosol
• Grassland – mollisol
• Mid latitude forests – alfisol
• Wetlands – histosol
• Flood plains – inceptisol
• Tundra – permafrost
• Cropland -solum
Public policy on soil
Government subsidy is
given to the farmers to
increase the production.
Due to this subsidy there are a few
problems also:
The tax payer has to pay more for
maintaining subsidy
Subsidies harm environment because
farmers tend to use more fertilizers and
pesticides to produce more.
Farmers not willing to try crop rotation
They draw more water from the
underground
In 1985 Conservation Reserve
Programme – CRP was started.
Under this 3, 35,000 farmers were given
possession of about 40 million acres of
erodible cropland.
Their duty was to prevent soil erosion
and preserve the top soil.
Again in 1985 a Food Security Act- FSA
was passed by which the farmers were to
implement soil conservation programmes
and get subsidy.
In 1988 Sustainable Agricultural
research Education – SARE was
started to encourage sustainable
farming by:
 Maintaining productive top soil
 Growing food safe and wholesome
 Reducing the use of fertilizers and
pesticides
 Keeping farms economically viable
In 1996 Wet land Reserve Programme –
WRP, was organized to encourage
farmers to preserve wet lands.
Again in 1996, Federal Agricultural
Improvement Reform Act – FAIR was
passed through which much of the
subsidies were reduced or revoked.
The farmers had freedom to plant what
they wanted to.
It has not been very successful
In 2002 a farm Bill was passed in the place of FAIR.
• This bill increases the incentives for CRP and WRP.
• Two newer programmes called Wildlife Habitat Incentive Programme –
WHIP and Environmental Quality Incentive Programme –EQIP were
established to protect wildlife and reduce pollution.
• In developing countries the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research – CGIAR is helping individual subsistence farmers by various
programmes.
• One such programme is, Farmer centered Agricultural Research
Management – FARM. It is a cooperative programme among 8 Asian countries
like China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
Vietnam.
• It mainly promotes rural sustainable agriculture with inputs from recent
technological advancements.
• FARM has also established ‘Farmer Field Schools’ where farmers innovate
farm practices and compete with peers.
• Similarly, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute – KARI has established 5
farmer field schools.
• By 2002 around 475 farmers have taken part in these schools.
Strategic Themes:
•Sustainability: Top soil is lost all over the world due to expansion of agriculture,
overgrazing, deforestation, desertification etc. In normal crop lands, FARM, WRP,
WHIP, SARE etc. are taking initiatives. Farmer field school is an example. In
mountainous areas, like Hindu Kush Himalayas – HKH, where landslides and
erosions are common, a new programme called Three Strata Forage System – TSFS
has been initiated.
•The three strata include, 1. Grasses & Legumes, 2. Shrubs, 3. Fodder trees.
•This system will provide food for livestock and humans, prevent soil erosion, enrich
soil, and yield income generating products also. For example a shrub called, Sea
Buckthorn [Hippophae] has the following advantages:
o It is a nitrogen fixer
o Its roots hold soil very well
o It is a good food for cattle
o Yields vitamin rich berries
o Oil from berries is medicinal
o Wood can be used as fuel
•Stewardship: The farmers, shepherds etc. are the tenants of the soil. Their duty is to
live and protect the soil. If they fail in their duty they will lose their abode. Example is
the, ‘Dust Bowl tragedy of 1930’. Intensive farming and overgrazing in the Southern
Great Plains of US lead to loss of top soil. Wind and drought worsened the situation
forcing thousands of people to flee their home land.
•Sound science: Most data on soil health are collected by aerial surveys. Some times
these surveys may not be factual as demonstrated by the GLASOD study. So actual
Integrating Themes:
•Ecosystem Capital: Soil, along with its minerals,
water and organisms is the vital goods. Its primary
productivity is its service.
•Policy and politics: Many governments are concerned
with agricultural sustainability. Therefore they take
many policy decisions regarding the soil. Put they need
to be properly advised on matters such as: subsidy,
organic farming, subsistence farming, GM crops,
Farmer field schools etc.
•Globalization: Many international projects are
initiated by the UN, such as ICIMD, CGIAR, UNCCD
etc.