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IAPRS & SIS, Vol.34, Part 7, *Resource and Environmental Monitoring", Hyderabad, India, 2002
desertification in particular. In response to these challenges,
100 countries have signed the convention to combat
desertification in 1997 (Anon 2000). As a follow up action, a
task force has also been set up to combat desertification in
India under the Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of
India.
4. GLOBAL ASSEMENT OF LAND DEGRADATION
The existing global estimates are approximate and not very
reliable because of a variety of factors, among them, the
diversity of methodological approaches of different authors and
the absence of unity in evaluating the criteria of desertification.
The first quantitative spatial assessment of desertification was
made on the basis of information available with UNCOD. In
1978 the total area affected by desertification was estimated
(table-1) at 3.8 billion hectares (Mabbut, 1978) (table-1).
Table-1 Territories affected by desertification
(Mabbut,1978)
Degree of the | Arid Semi- Sub- Total
risk of Zone arid humid Area
desertification Zone Zone
Million Million Million Million
km? km? km? km?
Very Severe 1.1 22 0.2 33
Severe 13.4 4.4 0.6 16.4
Moderate 2.1 12.5 3.2 17.8
Total 16.6 17.1 4.0 37.7
But five years latér the figure was increased to 4.7 billion
hectares (table-2) (Dregne,1983) and the increase is being
attributed to the inclusion of the areas of true hyper deserts into
the total area which were excluded by J.Mabbut (table-2). With
regard to the extent of desertification in different regions,
Dregne's figure shows significant diversity. Severe
desertification affects nearly 30% of the arid territories in
Spain, 27% of those in North America, 22% of those in South
America, 20% of those in Asia, 18% of those in Africa and 8%
of those in Australia. The share of moderately desertified land
varies from 11% in Africa to 70% in Spain.
Table-2 Present desertification in Arid territories of the
world (Dregne, 1986)
Degree of Total Area | % of the total
desertification | Million hectares | Area of the Arid
territories
Slight 2452 52.1
Moderate 1377 29.3
Severe 870 18.5
Very Severe 7 0.1
Total 4706 100
687
5. LAND DEGRADATION IN INDIA
According to National Commission on Agriculture (1976),
about 175 million hectares of land constituting 53.3 per cent of
the total geographical area of 329 M ha is subject to various
kinds of degradation. According to the latest reports of
Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (DAC, 1994)
shows 107 million hectares under various types of degraded
lands. (Table-3).The area reported under degraded lands by
various organizations in the country are given in table-4.
Table - 3 : Land Degradation Status in India
(Area in lakh ha.)
SL. | Type of Earlier Present
No. | degradation assessment assessment
(MOA, 1985) | (MOA, 1994)
1. Water Erosion 1071.96 571.55
2 Wind Erosion 177.96 104.60
3. Ravines 39.75 26.78
4. Salt Affected 76.16 63.23
5. Waterlogging . 85.26 31.97
6. Mines & Quarry -- 2:53
Wastes
7. Shifting 49.12 23.78
Cultivation
8. Degraded Forests 194.94 248.97
9. Spl. Problems 27:30 0.89
Coastal Sandy 14.65 --
Areas
*Included In Other
Types
1736.40 1074.30
TOTAL or 173.64 or 107.43
M.ha M.ha
(Draft Report on status of Land Degradation in India,
Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, 1994)
According to one of the recent study India has experienced an
expansion of degraded land area from 130 million hectares in
1987 to 188 million in 1993 (Annon, 2002). Unfortunately,
reliable time series data area not available land degradation
categories in India. The largest category is land affected by
water erosion, which account for 80 percent of degraded land
that results in loss of topsoil. Among the remaining categories,
salinization, waterlogging, and loss of top soil from wind
erosion,
Table 4. Statistics on Degraded Lands in India
Agencies/Organisations M.Ha
1. National Commission on Agriculture, Govt. | 175.0
of India (1976)
2. Society for Promotion of Waste Land | 93.7
Development (1984)
3.Soil and Water Conservation Division, | 173.6
Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India
4. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use | 187.7
Planning (1994)
5. Department of Land Resources ( 2000) 63.8
6. Dept. of Agriculture & Cooperation (1994) 107.4
are the most pervasive problems. Of these, reliable time series
data are available only for salt affected land, which has grown
from 7.18 million hectares in 1987 to over 10 million in 1993
(Annon, 2002). It may be pertinent to add here that according to
NRSA / DOS project on ,'Mapping of salt affected soils of
India’, the area under salt affected soils in the country is 6.727
