| INDI-FACTS
? Drylands comprise of about 223
million hectares of arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid regions.
? At least one-third of the total area
is degraded (including desertified).
? Arid areas (49.5 mha) are the worst
affected, especially the western
part of Rajasthan state (including
the Thar Desert), and the arid
Gujarat (including the Rann of
Kachchh).
The causes are similar — recurrent
droughts, high wind, dumping of mine
and industrial wastes, high demand
for food, fodder and fuel wood
causing over-exploitation of resources,
resulting in wind and water erosion,
and salinistion.
Traditional practices of sustainability and conservation
of resources, with mixed farming (combining perennial
trees and grasses with crop cultivation and livestock
rearing) are dying. Thus, even traditionally “green” areas
like Punjab are falling prey to desertification.
DESERT COMBAT
So what are we doing to tackle desertification?
India has embarked upon a national policy to bring
33 per cent of the country’s land area under forest. It
would also implement desert and drought-prone area
development programmes, including sand dune
stabilisation, wind erosion control and salinity control.
Many other countries have tried various solutions to
reduce the rate of desertification and regain lost land
including Biodiversity Action Plans. Here are a few solutions:
? Crop rotation (growing different types of crops in the
same land in sequential seasons) is
a brilliant method of restoring land
fertlity. It balances the fertility
demands of crops, avoiding
depletion of soil nutrients. Planting
leguminous plants that extract
nitrogen from the air and fix it in
the soil is another way.
? Only those crops that require
less water should be planted.
Cultivation of cash crops like
cotton, which require a lot of
water, should be prohibited in arid
regions like Rajasthan.
? Water resources should be
efficiently used, especially by
improving irrigation facilities in
arid and semi-arid lands.
? Rainwater harvesting would also
make a huge difference. It will not
just provide water for domestic
uses and irrigation; it would also replenish
groundwater levels.
The crux of combating desertification lies in the wise
use of the existing resources.
Deserting world
1. In the 1930s, overgrazing and drought transformed
parts of the Great Plains in the United States into the
“Dust Bowl”. The term desertification was not coined
until around the mid twentieth century.
2. The 1968 drought in Sahel, West Africa, combined
with the land-use practices caused the deaths of more
than 100,000 people and 12 million cattle by 1973.
3. About seven per cent of Madagascar’s central
highland plateau land mass has become barren.
4. The Rio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico is one of
the most eroded river basins of the western United
States owing to overgrazing. Overgrazing is also an
issue with some regions of South Africa such as the
Waterberg Massif.
5. The Desert of Maine is a 40-acre dune of glacial silt.
Overgrazing and soil erosion exposed the cap of the
dune, revealing the desert as a small patch that
continued to grow, overtaking the land.
6. Ghana, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are losing
land to desertification.
7. Nigeria, slightly larger than Texas, is losing 1,355
square miles of rangeland and cropland to
desertification each year.
8. Desertification is widespread in Brazil, Mexico and
many areas of the People’s Republic of China.
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