Impact of Land Degradation on Sustainable Development of Agriculture

The extent and cost of degradation are substantial in India. Being an agrarian economy, any aggravation in the situation would threaten food security of the country. Out of total 329 million hectare geographical area 63.86 million hectare or 20.17 percent of total geographical area is degraded in one form or other. Though at macro level the adverse impact of degradation on production is not so high but review of various studies at micro level shows crop losses due to degradation are quite significant. In many cases land degradation is observed in terms of declining land use intensity, high input use and declining profits and changing cropping pattern.