GLOBAL SOIL RESOURCES BASE: DEGRADATION …

1 C-MASC 04-09 GLOBAL soil RESOURCES BASE: DEGRADATION AND LOSS TO OTHER USESR. LalCarbon Management and Sequestration CenterThe Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OH 43210 USAWORLD POPULATION GROWTHYearPopulation (Billions)Growth Rate (%/y) (Bartlett, 2004)PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE BETWEEN 1900 AND 2000 (PONTING, 2007)ParameterIncrease Factor Between output35 Energy Production300 Water Use9 Irrigated Use342 Fish Catch65 Organic Chemicals1000 Car Ownership7750 EMISSION FROM FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTIONYearEmissions (Tg C/y)175031800818505418609118802361900534 1920932194012991960253519805155199059311 9956190200062992005700020088000(Kondraty ev et al.)

2 , 2003; Marland et al., 2001; IPCC, 2007)C-MASC 04-09 HUMANS AND LAND RESOURCESH umans have converted a third of the land area -almost billion hectares -to agriculture and urban or build up areas. Most of the remainder land is unsuitable for TRENDS IN AGRICULTURAL LANDC-MASC 04-09 YearArea (106ha)CroplandGrazing LandPasture17002656860-18505376837-19209 136748-195011176780-19801346678832441990 1396-336820001398-3442(Richards, 1900; FAO, 2008)WORLD IRRIGATED LAND AREA(Brown, 2000; FAO, 2005)YearArea Irrigated (106ha)% ~ 20% of irrigated land is salinizedC-MASC 04-09 THE HABER-BOSCH PROCESS3 CH4+ 6H2O 3 CO2+ 12 H212 H2+ 4 N28 NH3C-MASC 04-09 GLOBAL FERTILIZER USE(IFDC, 2004; Tilman et al.

3 , 2001)YearArea (106Mg/yr)NPKT otal1950<10--< 04-09C-MASC 11-08 RELATED DEGRADATION to DesertificationC-MASC 04-09C-MASC 04-09 soil DEGRADATIONIt reduced agricultural productivity by ~15% between 1950 and 2000. For three centuries ending in 2000, topsoil has been lost at the rate of 300 million tons/yr. Between 1950 and 2000, topsoil was lost at the rate of 760 millions tons per Processes of soil DegradationProcesses, Causes, and Factors of soil DegradationInteractive effects of biophysical factors and human dimensionsSOIL DEGRADATIONP rocessArea (106 ha)% Total Land AreaWater Earth s Land Area = 13,069 MhaC-MASC 04-09(Glasod, 1994)CONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF soil DEGRADATIONC ontinentalArea (106 ha)% Total Degraded Land 04-09(Glasod, 1994)ESTIMATES OF DESERTIFICATION IN ARID LANDS Desertified LandArea Desertification (106ha)

4 Irrigated43 Rainfed Cropland216 Rangeland ( soil & Veg.)757 Rangeland (Veg.)2576 Total3592 Total Arid Land Area5172% 04-09(UNEP, 1991)ESTIMATES OF DESERTIFICATION IN ARID LANDS ProcessArea Desertified (106ha)Water Erosion478 Wind Erosion513 Chemical DEGRADATION *111 Physical Degradation35 Total1137% * ~ 54 M ha of chemically degraded land is salinizedC-MASC 04-09(Glasod, 1998)VULNERABILITY TO DESERTIFICATION(Eswaran et al., 2001)ClassArea Affected (106ha)% of GLOBAL Land 04-09 LAND DEGRADATION BY NDVI(Bai et al., 2008)ParameterValueArea degraded (106ha)3506% of land NPP loss (Tg C/y)955 Total Population affected (billion)

5 Total 04-09C-MASC 04-09 Conversion of soil to Non-Agricultural Uses UrbanizationIndustrializationMilitary UsesResidentialInfrastructureRecreationW aste DisposalManufacturingFoodProcessing Contamination Pollution Testing Firing ranges Training Security Buffers Accommodation Health Services Roads Airports Shopping Malls Shipyards Golf Courses Parks Sport ArenasReduction in soil RESOURCES base through conversion to non-agricultural usesC-MASC 04-09 OTHER LAND USESLand UseArea (106 ha)Urbanization351 Plantations142 Pollution22C-MASC 04-09 soil DEGRADATION QUESTIONS TO BE estimates of soil between processes, factors and of soil DEGRADATION on ecosystem to restore degraded use and management to minimize DEGRADATION in food security and human interventions to reverse to enhance soil to improve communication among stake a central data 04-09C-MASC 04-09 LAW #1 CAUSES OF soil DEGRADATIONThe biophysical process of soil DEGRADATION is driven by economic, social and political forces.

6 C-MASC 04-09 LAW #2 soil STEWARDSHIP AND HUMAN SUFFERINGWhen people are poverty stricken, desperate and starving, they pass on their sufferings to the land. C-MASC 04-09 Law #3 NUTRIENT, CARBON AND WATER BANKIt is not possible to take more out of a soil than what is put in it without degrading its quality. C-MASC 04-09C-MASC 04-09 LAW #4 MARGINALITY PRINCIPLEM arginal soils cultivated with marginal inputs produce marginal yields and support marginal living. THE ULTIMATE RECYCLINGAN IMPOSSIBLE ECOSYSTEMC-MASC 04-09 LAW #5 ORGANIC VERSUS INORGANIC SOURCE OF NUTRIENTSP lants cannot differentiate the nutrients supplied through inorganic fertilizers or organic amendments.

7 C-MASC 04-09 LAW #6 soil CARBON AND GREENHOUSE EFFECTM ining C has the same effect on GLOBAL warming whether it is through mineralization of soil organic matter and extractive farming or burning fossil fuels or draining peat soils. CARBON BALANCEG ainsLossesResiduesCompostRoot biomassErosionDecompositionLeachingSoil Carbon DepletionC-MASC 04-09 soil Carbon SequestrationSOIL CARBON DEPLETIONG ainsLossesErosionDecompositionLeachingCo mpostCrop ResiduesCover CropsRoot Biomass C-MASC 04-09C-MASC 04-09 LAW #7 soil VERSUS GERMPLASMEven the elite varieties cannot extract water and nutrients from any soil where they do not exist.

8 C-MASC 04-09 Law #8 soil As Sink For Atmospheric CO2 soil are integral to any strategy of mitigating GLOBAL warming and improving the environmentC-MASC 03-09 LAW #9 ENGINE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS ustainable management of soils is the engine of economic development, political stability and transformation of rural communities in developing countries. C-MASC 04-09 Law #10 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND MODERN INNOVATIONS Sustainable management of soil implies the use of modern innovations built upon the traditional knowledge. Those who refuse to use modern science to address urgent GLOBAL issues must be prepared to endure more suffering.

9 C-MASC 04-09 NOT TAKING SOILS FOR GRANTEDI fsoilsarenotrestored,cropswillfailevenif rainsdonot;hungerwillperpetuateevenwithe mphasisonbiotechnologyandgeneticallymodi fiedcrops;civilstrifeandpoliticalinstabi litywillplaguethedevelopingworldevenwith sermonsonhumanrightsanddemocraticideals; ,foodinsecurity, (Science, 2008)DESTINY By the law of Karma, you are in control of your own destiny. It is, therefore, important to care for hills and protect the forests than worship Indra .Srimad Bhagavatam 04-09