Carbon Sink Capacity and Agronomic Productivity of Soils of Semiarid Regions of India - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 429

AFGHANISTAN

India

Soil loss

Jammu & Kashmir

50 0 350 km

Himachal Pradesh

Punjab

Uttaranchal

Haryana
DELHI

Arunachal Pradesh

Sikkim

BHUTAN

Uttar Pradesh Assam

Rajasthan

Nagaland

Meghalaya

Bihar

Manipur

BANGLADESH

Tribura Mizoram

Jharkhand

Madhya Pradesh

Gujarat We st Bengal

Chhattisgarh

Orissa

Maharashtra

Andhra Pradesh

Legend
Moderate 10-15
Mod. severe 15-20
Severe 20-40
Very severe 40-80
Extr. severe >80
Wind erosion
Others
Area not covered in survey
Forest

Goa

Karnataka

Tamil Nadu

Kecala

(b)

FIGURE 16.2 (Continued) (a) Physical land degradation in India. (b) Soil loss by water ero-
sion (>10 Mg ha -1 year -1 ). (c) Wind erosion in India (>10 Mg ha -1 year -1 ). From Venkateswarlu,
B. et al., Natural Resource Management for Accelerating Agricultural Productivity , Stadium
Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India, 2012.)

16.3.5 U ntapped w ateR -n UtRient S yneRgy
Rainfed regions often suffer from water scarcity and are characterized by multinutrient-
deficient soils. However, applying plant nutrients in synergy with profile moisture
storage is crucial in improving crop productivity and enhancing nutrient and water
use efficiencies.

16.3.6 p ooR c Rop M anageMent
Untimely sowing, lack of weeding and supplemental irrigation, and suboptimum
plant population result in poor crop stand. Excessive weed infestation can smother
growth of the crops and severely reduce their productivity. Yet, a judicious crop