Land and soil Resources

All information about Land and soil Resources

1. L AND and Soil Resources

2. Land resources. Land degradation Land conservation Soil resources. Types of soil. Layers of soil. Soil conservation. Topics

3. Land is a very important resource. It meets all our basic needs of food, clothing and housing. It provides habitat for animal life, acts as a storehouse for ground water, minerals and fossil fuels. Soil cover is another vital natural resources that makes agricultural practices possible. LAND

4. Land covers about 29% of the total area of the Earth’s surface and of this small percentage, a large part is not habitable because it is ice or snow covered, too rugged or steep, climatically, unsuitable, waterlogged, forested or a desert. The quality and distribution of land has a major role in deciding its usage. Land Resources

5. Worlds Land Use

6. Soil and liquid waste is constantly being dumped on the land. Twenty- three per cent of the world’s usable land has been degraded and its productivity has been reduced. The main causes of degradation are deforestation, overgrazing, agricultural mismanagement, establishment of industries and urbanization. Land degradation

7. We need to conserve our land resources for future generations. Land use must be planned properly to provide best results. Suitable methods that should be adopted to conserve our land resources are: Check soil erosion. Check desertification. Control waterlogging of soil. Afforestation. Land reclamation Land conservation Regulated use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Check on overgrazing. Reclaim wasteland so they are brought back to other uses.

8. Soil Resources Soil forms the thin upper layer of the Earth’s crust. It is made up of disintegrated rock and decayed remains of plants and animals in the form of humus; takes thousands of years for one centimetre of soil to form. The importance of soil lies in its fertility and its capacity to produce crops. Soil is formed by the physical and chemical weathering besides the biological process of decay of plant and animal matters.

9. Types of Soil The best soils are found in river valleys. The valleys of rivers Nile in Egypt, Chang-Jiang in China, Ganga in India have rich soil. In temperate grasslands, soils are dark, rich in humus and are called chernozems. Soils of semi-arid areas, rich in minerals and humus are called pedocals. Desert soils have sufficient minerals but lack water. Soils in humid climates are acidic, but have less humus especially under cold conditions as in coniferous forests. They are called Pedalfers.

10. Layers of Soil Humus Topsoil S ubstratum Subsoil Bedrock

11. Soil conservation Soil conservation is an effort made by humans to prevent soil erosion and thereby retain the fertility of soil. Soil can be conserved by terrace farming, contour ploughing, multiple cropping, inter cropping, preventing wasteful practice of slash and burn, control of deforestation, promoting planting of trees and plugging of gullies, and shelter belts.