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Soil Conservation Issues in India

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ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
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ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun 248195, India
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ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur Rajasthan 342003, India
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Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, UK
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ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Canning Town, West Bengal 743 329, India
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ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Bangalore Regional Center, Bangalore 560024, India
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Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal 741252, India
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Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Cooch Behar 736165, India
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National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Kolkata Regional Centre, Kolkata 700091, India
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ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram 250110, India
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ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad 500030, India
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Marc A. Rosen
Sustainability 2016, 8(6), 565; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060565
Received: 16 April 2016 / Revised: 26 May 2016 / Accepted: 30 May 2016 / Published: 18 June 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Science in Conservation Agricultural Systems)
Despite years of study and substantial investment in remediation and prevention, soil erosion continues to be a major environmental problem with regard to land use in India and elsewhere around the world. Furthermore, changing climate and/or weather patterns are exacerbating the problem. Our objective was to review past and current soil conservation programmes in India to better understand how production-, environmental-, social-, economic- and policy-related issues have affected soil and water conservation and the incentives needed to address the most critical problems. We found that to achieve success in soil and water conservation policies, institutions and operations must be co-ordinated using a holistic approach. Watershed programmes have been shown to be one of the most effective strategies for bringing socio-economic change to different parts of India. Within both dryland and rainfed areas, watershed management has quietly revolutionized agriculture by aligning various sectors through technological soil and water conservation interventions and land-use diversification. Significant results associated with various watershed-scale soil and water conservation programmes and interventions that were effective for reducing land degradation and improving productivity in different parts of the country are discussed. View Full-Text
Keywords: soil erosion control; conservation agriculture; cover cropping; environmental issues; economic issues; social issues soil erosion control; conservation agriculture; cover cropping; environmental issues; economic issues; social issues
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MDPI and ACS Style

Bhattacharyya, R.; Ghosh, B.N.; Dogra, P.; Mishra, P.K.; Santra, P.; Kumar, S.; Fullen, M.A.; Mandal, U.K.; Anil, K.S.; Lalitha, M.; Sarkar, D.; Mukhopadhyay, D.; Das, K.; Pal, M.; Yadav, R.; Chaudhary, V.P.; Parmar, B. Soil Conservation Issues in India. Sustainability 2016, 8, 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060565

AMA Style

Bhattacharyya R, Ghosh BN, Dogra P, Mishra PK, Santra P, Kumar S, Fullen MA, Mandal UK, Anil KS, Lalitha M, Sarkar D, Mukhopadhyay D, Das K, Pal M, Yadav R, Chaudhary VP, Parmar B. Soil Conservation Issues in India. Sustainability. 2016; 8(6):565. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060565

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bhattacharyya, Ranjan, Birendra N. Ghosh, Pradeep Dogra, Prasanta K. Mishra, Priyabrata Santra, Suresh Kumar, Michael A. Fullen, Uttam K. Mandal, Kokkuvayil S. Anil, Manickam Lalitha, Dibyendu Sarkar, Dibyendu Mukhopadhyay, Krishnendu Das, Madan Pal, Rajbir Yadav, Ved P. Chaudhary, and Brajendra Parmar. 2016. "Soil Conservation Issues in India" Sustainability 8, no. 6: 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8060565

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