Posts Tagged ‘Agriculture’
Soil pH has declined significantly since 1980s in India & China
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Each plant and its soil life form have a particular soil pH it is used to. It is like blood pressure in our bodies, that varies many levels even within a day. Any change can lead to complications in the organism’s metabolism. Decrease in pH modifies top soils, a major source of crop nutrients.
Soil pH declined significantly from the 1980s to 2000s in nearly all crop production areas in India and China. Average decline was between 0.13 and 0.8. Typically pH value hovers at an average of eight across most lands of the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Monsoon rains set to change pattern
In 2010, the monsoon rainfall was 29 per cent below average. Rainfall is predicted to fall in shorter, more intense bursts, over several regions in the years ahead. This will mean more powerful surface runoff and greater soil erosion. Farmers have to deal with more barren lands.
The desert’s relentless march
India’s desert lands are expanding. Recent satellite maps show, between 2003 and 2006, an alarming 32 per cent of India’s lands to be degraded and nearly 25 per cent to be desertified.
Of course Rajasthan is the worst hit. The Thar Desert has become bigger, extending from an area of 196,000 square kilometer in 1996 to 208,000 square kilometers at present. Read the rest of this entry »
