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N S ARUN
N.S.
RUN KUMAR
UMA
UMA
MAR
R
The year 2015 has been proclaimed as the International Year of the Soils to highlight
the contribution of soils in our quest to achieve food security for the teeming millions.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOILS
The International Year of Soils aims to increase awareness and understanding of the
importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions. The specific
objectives of the IYS 2015 are to:
1. Raise awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound
importance of soil for human life.
2. Educate the public about the crucial role soil plays in food security, climate change
adaptation and mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and
sustainable development.
3. Support e ective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection
of soil resources.
4. Promote investment in sustainable soil management activities to develop and
maintain healthy soils for di erent land users and population groups.
5. Strengthen initiatives in connection with the SDG process (Sustainable Development
Goals) and Post-2015 agenda.
6. Advocate for rapid capacity enhancement for soil information collection and
monitoring at all levels (global, regional and national).
Courtesy: http://www.fao.org
When we speak about the importance
of sustainable food systems for healthy
lives, it must start with soils. Soils form
the base of vegetation and agriculture.
We need soil for food, feed, fiber, fuel
and much more. Forests need it to
grow. Soils host at least one quarter of
the worlds biodiversity. They are the
key in the carbon cycle. They help us to
mitigate and adapt to climate change.
They play a role in water management
and in improving resilience to floods and
droughts.
But, it is so sad and alarming
that one-third of the soils all over the
world have already been degraded. If
the current trend continues, the global
amount of arable and productive land per
person in 2050 will be a quarter of what it
was in 1960. The world will have over 9
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FEATURE ARTICLE
What is Soil?
Soils are typically made up of about
one-third water, one-third minerals and
one-third organic materials. But, if we
take these three elements separately and
mix them together, we wont get soil.
Soil is much like a living organism. It
is a complex and dynamic system that
forms habitat for an immense diversity of
species, including human beings.
It is composed of living and nonliving components. The living component
includes from large creatures like
earthworms, ants, etc. to microscopic
forms like bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
and micro-arthropods. The physical
and chemical properties of the soil are
attributed to the non-living components
of the soil. This largely includes the
geological part, the solid material, which
we often call the soil.
The nature of the soil varies across
different geological landscapes, their
formation in turn affected by different
climatic, physical and chemical factors.
Fertile soil remains as the base for the
economic prosperity of a nation through
food, fuel and fabrics. Soil could even
sustain civilizations. It supplies nutrients
for growth of plants which include
agricultural crops also.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Effects
Effe
Ef
fect
fe
ctss of Erosion
ct
Ero
rosi
sion
si
on of
of the
the Soil
Soil
Erosion is an inevitable action which
implies the removal of the surface of the
earth by abrasive actions of wind, water,
waves, or glaciers. Based on the reason
and factors, erosion can be of two types:
Geological and Accelerated.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Pollution of Soil
A continuous struggle is going on
between those who are polluting the soil
and those who are trying to remediate
its aftermaths. Industrial revolution and
intensive agricultural practices have
made pollution of the soil an incurable
epidemic. People may have been aware of
the effects of water-pollution, but nobody
spoke about the effects of pollution on the
soil. May be because it was not obvious as
in the case of water and air pollution, but
the consequences were far more fearsome.
There was not even a single law
relating to the regulation of soil-pollution
over the past hundred years and this
is true even in the highly civilized and
economically developed countries. All the
heavily industrialised cities of the world
have a very pathetic condition pertaining
to the health of their soil environment.
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Only
Only recently,
rec
ecen
entl
en
tly
tl
y, soil-health
y,
so
soil
so
il-h
hea
ealt
lth
lt
h has
has
been slowly grabbing public attention,
largely due to the efforts of voluntary
organisations
and
environmental
protection agencies. However, once
polluted, it takes decades and billions of
money to get the soil cleaned and brought
back to life.
Soil can be polluted in many ways.
Soil can be directly affected when
pollutants are dumped on to the soil
surface. It has become a common practice
to dump municipal waste including
human excreta into large pits, made
temporarily for the purpose or as a
permanent measure. This can produce
soil directly or can lead to the production
of leachates which can pollute the
adjoining water-bodies. Sometimes rain
water or flash floods can carry these
leachates to faraway places and pollute
even the deeper layers of the soil.
A few legislations relating to this
still hold good, such as the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA),
passed by the U.S. Congress in 1976 which
made all dumping actions to be sanitary.
According to this Act, all landfill sites
must be engineered to prevent leakage to
restrict the generation of leachates.
Industries are the major source
of soil pollutants which include spills
and leaks from manufacturing. Leaks
may happen during transportation
and storage. Disposal systems when
not closely monitored can create more
harm than good, when the underground
storage tanks, disposal wells, and septic
systems become faulty and start leaking
to the surrounding soil wall.
Pesticide residues in the soil belong
to Non-Pointsource-Pollutants which
means, they do not have any identifiable
source. Pesticides may come to the soil
from the air, when sprayed onto the soil
surface or mixed into the soil.
Air polluting pesticide particles
may settle down on the soil surface due
to gravity or by way of precipitation.
Fertilizers,
household
chemicals,
detergents, construction materials, dust,
etc. can also reach the soil. Pollutants
that are soluble in water have the highest
mobility. They are readily carried by
rainwater or flood water, cleaning the soil
for a while, but eventually affecting the
groundwater.
On the other hand, most heavy
metals and other chemically stable
substances do not directly dissolve in
SCIENCE REPORTER, JUNE 2015
FEATURE ARTICLE
Soil can get polluted by industrial
emissions or pesticide residues
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Conservation of Soil
Conservation of soil is the need of the
hour. Although chemical fertilizers
replenish the nutrient pool necessary
for plant growth, they do not regenerate
the organic matter present in the soil
quantitatively or qualitatively. They also
fail to maintain the heterogeneity of the
organic materials found in the soil. Only
the slower decomposition of organic
materials could replenish the fertility of
the soil.
Many people cannot differentiate
between a forest land and agricultural
land, because, as per them, both provide
greenery and all the benefits of vegetation.
But, after harvest, the soil in the crop field
is left bare and exposed to the effects of
soil-erosion. So, whatever that is present
as natural in the soil must be conserved
for maximum sustainable usage.
Our land-management practices
must be re-evaluated for the effective
conservation of soil structure and the
FEATURE ARTICLE
Diversified cropping system ensures
conservation of soil
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