26 Wasteland

Dr Sunil Mittal

Introduction
What is a Wasteland?
Types of Wastelands
Reasons for its Formation
Why Wasteland Reclamation
Wasteland Reclamation
Wastelands – Indian Scenario Conclusion

1. Introduction

Land is the most precious resource on this planet earth which supports life. Land is the natural home of most of species of plants, animals, microbes etc. The primary sources of food for the lives on land come from the plants growing naturally of specifically grown for the purpose. With advancement humans and technology, domestication of plants in the form of agriculture started. The agriculture products now provide the raw materials for most of the human needs. The land available on the earth is not uniform and differs geologically, geographically, environmentally, climatically etc. The different land masses on the different parts of the earth have been created through different geological processes and differ in their physical, chemical, geological composition etc. Depending on the soil composition, fertility, availability of water, climatic and edaphic conditions, specific adaptations, different land forms support different type of vegetation. However, all the land forms do not naturally support vegetation or life (productive) due to climatic and edaphic conditions. But many landforms which were naturally productive have become unproductive due to various anthropogenic activities. The unproductive lands weather natural or anthropogenic are in general called wastelands. Such unproductive land or wastelands formed due to anthropogenic activities are of particular concern as the decreasing productive land area decreases the agricultural and vegetative productivity. Further, the ever increasing human population adds woes to their survival due to decrease in productive land forms. Hence, it is necessary to manage and reclaim the wastelands to productive land forms. The present module discusses the definition of wasteland, their types, causes of formation and methods of their reclamation.

2.What is a Wasteland

In general, the barren or degraded lands which do not fulfill their life sustaining potential. Some of agricultural fields degraded or unfit for profitable cultivation are also often considered as wastelands. The most commonly used definition of wastelands is “any type of land which because of neglect, overuse or degradation by climatic and / or anthropogenic factors is not being used to its fullest potential”

The National Wasteland Development Board, Govt. of India defines wasteland as “land which is presently degraded and is lying unutilized except current fallow due to different constrains”.

3.Types Of Wasteland

The wastelands can be mainly divided into 2 types and then subdivided into several subtype.

These are:

i) Culturable Wastelands: These are the wastelands which can be cultured easily or without much difficulty. No special measures are required for their reclaimation. These may reclaim at their own naturally with time.

ii) Non culturable Wastelands: These cannot be reclaimed easily and natural reclamation of is not possible. These can either be reclaimed with extreme difficulty or cannot be reclaimed at all.

i) Culturable Wastelands

Gullied or Ravinous Wasteland: This type of land is formed as a result of concentrated run off flowing at very high speed. This runoff erode soil and forms gullies. Fertility of these soils is very low and nearly at zero level.

Steep Sloping Area/Undulating Uplands: Lands having slope from 3 to 10 degrees. These are unsuitable for cultivation due to high degree of slope which hinders in agricultural operations. These are characterized by accelerated water and wind erosion. The common vegetation present is weeds, grasses and bushes cover.

Water Logged or Marshy Lands: These lands remain submerged in water practically for whole of the year. These lands may develop due to seepage of water from rivers, canals or water reservoirs. These lands are formed near coastal and in other low lying areas.

Salt Effected Lands: These lands have deposition of salts on the upper layers of soil. The depth of layer depends on the quantity of salts deposited. The salts deposited may be soluble or exchangeable. When there is excess of soluble salts and pH 8.5, soil is known as saline. When there is exchangeable Na, pH is from 8 to 10 soil is known as alkaline. These soils are usually fine textured, light with good porous space but low water holding capacity. Due to deposition of salts, colors of upper crust vary from white to grayish white.

Degraded Forest Land: Due to removal of forests for fuel and firewood the tree canopy has been reduced and trees almost look like bushes or merely skeleton and they are not able to grow further. The soil of this area is good for planting crops provided used with care.

Shifting Cultivation Area: The land areas are cleared by burning or cutting mostly by tribal people. This type of cultivation is also called Jhumming cultivation. The land is exposed to natural conditions of weathering till plant or crop sowing. The cultivation is done for few years, and then these tribal people move to another place and again clear other forest area for next cultivation and so on. This practice may lead to the formation of wastelands.

Degraded Pastures/Grazing Lands: These are the areas under permanent grasses where cattle or animals graze. These lands are initially degraded due to over grazing by animals. Further, trampling of land by the animals loosen the upper soil layers which promote soil erosion by water or wind. These lands should be used with care as these are fertile and good in texture.

Mining/Industrial Wasteland: The land becomes barren to large extent due to excavations and movement of heavy machinery. This area is left exposed to natural weathering processes and it may lead to soil erosion due to wind and water. The remains of rocks and excavated waste material comes down with rains and wind to low laying area and gets deposited there, creating more wastelands. These lands are mostly found in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka etc.

Land with or without Scrub Vegetation: Scrub vegetation is generally used for vegetation dominated by stunted trees or bushes and the crown cover less than 10% of land area. These plants are neither eaten by animals nor used by man. Scrub vegetation degrades soil quality. The barren land which does not have any capability to grow vegetation or the fallow land covered with grass is called land without scrub. These lands are productive and can be used for agricultural purposes if managed properly.

Degraded Land under Plantation Crops: The plantation crops are grown for commercial purposes. The monoculture agriculture makes the soils deficient in specific nutrients which lowers the soil fertility. The continuous monoculturing degrades the soil and the fertile land becomes a wasteland.

ii) Non Culturable Wasteland: These cannot be reclaimed easily. Natural reclamation of such wastelands is not possible. It can either be reclaimed with extreme difficulty or cannot be reclaimed at all. It can further be subdivided into following types.

Barren Rocky Area: Presence of big and small rocks hinders agricultural operations. Small rocks can be removed easily and the land can be used for raising crops. Where removal of big rocks is not possible trees can be planted.

Sandy Area: Found in desert, coastal areas, near river beds and sea shores. Sand deposits may found in a layer of 10-15cm on the surface of soil or the area can be totally sandy. High wind currents form sand dunes which hinders cultivation

Snow Covered or Glacial Areas: Area remains practically under snow cover for whole of the year. Usually found in mountains with slope which may be too much for correction. Not suitable for agriculture.

4.Causes of Wasteland Formation:

The main causes of wasteland formation are:

Soil erosion due to high speed wind and water
Salinization, alkalization, inundation of land areas
Natural factors like tsunami, floods and tidal actions
Anthropogenic activities like improper agricultural practices in terms of excessive usage fertilizers, pesticides, mono cropping, improper disposal of industrial waste, illegal and indiscriminate mining of minerals, Jhumming cultivation etc.
Climate change and Environmental conditions like changing rainfall pattern (arid, semiarid conditions)
Management constraints

5. Importance of Wastelands/Need for Wasteland Reclamation

Provides the source of income for rural people
Help in maintaining an ecological balance in area
Maintains the local climatic conditions
Ensures a constant supply of fuel, fodder and timber for local use
Improves the soil fertility

6. Wasteland Reclamation

It is the process of turning barren, sterile land into fertile land suitable for agriculture or vegetation and cultivation. Reclamation means recovering physical structure of land to rebuild the ecosystem. These lands can be reclaimed by three methods:

i) Topography and Soil Management

ii) Water Management

iii) Crop Management

i) Soil Management: The soil management can be done with following:

Filling of Gullies and Leveling: This can be done by filling stones in gullies, followed by compacting after placing soil over it. The leveling of land should be done to reduce water erosion. Further changing course of water or small check dams are also useful for the purpose. Planting grasses and bushes along the water course also help to stop soil erosion.
Terracing: In this the earth is shaped in the form of small leveled terraces to hold soil and water. The terraces are given inward slope to increase infiltration of water. The banks of terraces are made firm and compact by placing stones and planting grasses over the sides.
Scraping: This technique is used for soils covered with 2-3 cm thick layer of salts over it. This layer can be removed by scraping using spade. This is possible only at small scale and may not be possible at large scale.
Flushing: The method is used for lands where water soluble salts accumulate over land surface due to evaporation of water. To remove these salts, the area is first filled with water and allowed to remain there for few days. The water is checked for its conductivity so as to find that how much salts have dissolved. The water is then flushed off. Water should not be made to stand for long as salts can leach down to the sub soil.
Deep Ploughing: Fallow lands i.e. land that is normally used for farming but that is left with no crops for long time become hard due to trampling by animals, settling of soil particles and lack of vegetation. To recover such lands, ploughing should be done deep so that soil is opened to absorb moisture from rain. This also removes weeds, stones and pebbles etc.
Drainage: Waterlogged soils are improved by this method. There are 2 types of drainage systems, Sub-surface drainage and Underground drainage.
Addition of Green Manure and Soil Amendments: The method is used to reclaim the soils low in organic matter, nutrients and alkaline or acidic in nature. In this method legume crops or nitrogen fixing plants are cropped on the land and ploughed down in the soil when they are soft and without flowers. They fix atmospheric nitrogen and add organic matter to soil. The chemicals like calcium carbonate, gypsum, fly ash and farm yard manure are added to the soil to increase the nutrient level and lime is added to reduce the soil acidity.
Wind Breaks: The method is used in areas having loose dry sandy soil and high intensity of speedy winds leading to movement of soil with wind. To reduce soil erosion due to high speed wind, row of fast growing trees are plated on boundaries of wastelands and banks of water courses. The trees species commonly used as wind breaks are Poplar, Neem, Shesham Bamboo and some fruit trees like, Ber, Jamun Mango etc.
Silt Trapping Dams: When the water flowing from uplands cause soil erosion and siltation, to check the movement od eroded soil, big or small dams of reasonable height can be constructed against the course of water flow. Water is made to stand near these traps for a while and silt particles settle down thus reducing soil erosion.
Contour Furrowing and Bunding: The method is adopted for sloppy wasteland. The contours or furrows are made to allow water to remain in contour or to move at a slow speed and hence reduce soil erosion by water. This increases Infiltration of water leading to water conservation.
Mulching: The method is used to conserve soil moisture during droughts and when there are no rains. Mulches of dry grass, polythene, chemical mulch etc. are used to cover the soil surface. Mulching also check soil erosion and suppresses emergence of weeds.

ii)Water Management: Consists three options:

Addition of water-Irrigation
Conservation of water- Protection
Removal of excess of water- Drainage

Addition of water-Irrigation: The addition of water to agriculture of vegetation is called irrigation. Irrigation or soil moisture is most important to provide water to the plants and maintain land productivity. Various methods are used for irrigation depending on the soil type, crop/vegetation type, water availability etc. Mainly following techniques are used for irrigation.

Furrow or channel- Used where land is leveled and water is in plenty.

Flooding-Water is allowed to flow over the field. It is used where water is in plenty.
Sprinkler – Used where less but frequent water is required. It is very useful as no soil erosion, no loss of nutrients and water saving.
Ring or basin method-Used for irrigating fruit and other trees, individual tree is given water at a time. No loss of nutrients, no soil erosion but time consuming and laborious method.
Drip irrigation/Trickle irrigation method- This is relatively modern irrigation technology. In this, water is made to trickle down near root zone. Trickling of water drops is slow, underground and continues. There is no run-off of water, evaporation loss, no leaching down of water.
Conservation of soil Moisture: It includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage and conserve the soil moisture. It can be conserved by already discussed methods of terracing, mulching, wind barriers, silt trapping dams etc. Some other methods used for the purpose are:
Graded bunds– These are simple earthen embankments constructed across the slope/ contour of the area are called contour bunds. When these are constructed at pre-determined longitudinal grade, they are known as graded bunds. These are constructed where rainfall is more than 600 mm per year. The run-off from upper bund is retained in the lower bund and again the surplus water passed on to the next bund and in this way water is conserved in the soil.
Water Storage in Ditch – During rainy season, water is collected in ditches made at regular intervals depending upon soil type and amount of water to be handled. The water stored in ditches and can be used during water scarcity. Evaporation losses are overcome by covering the top of ditches.
Drainage: This is the method of removal of excess of water from soil/sub soil. The most common method used is pumping out the water with mechanical methods. On sloppy lands channels are laid down and water flows down by gravity.
Crop Management: Growing suitable crops and their management is another approach to reclaim wasteland. Those crops selected for wastelands should have characteristics like drought tolerant, minimum rate of transpiration, less nutrient requirement etc. Growing leguminous crops and ploughing them young in the soil. Multiple cropping, mixed cropping and crop rotation is done.
Aonla and Jatropha Plantations: The Aonla commonly called Amla is a minor sub-tropical deciduous tree. It can withstand drought conditions and can grow in neglected regions owing to its hardy nature. The fruit of the tree is in high demand due to its nutritional values. Similarly, another plant preferred to reclaim waste lands is Jatropha. It can grow on degraded soil and can resist drought conditions. The Seeds have high oil content which can be used for bio diesel production.
Fuel Wood Plantations on Wastelands: The land which cannot use for agricultural purposes can be planted with fast growing species of trees having rotation cycle of 4-7 years .It can provide fuel wood and fodder for cattle. Hence, it reduces excessive pressure on pasture lands.

7. Wasteland – Indian Scenario

India is a country having wide variation in geography, geology and climatology from North-south and East –West. On extreme north are located snow mountainous deserts with cold climate while southern region is dominated by oceans and maritime climate. On the east side are dry deserts and the west side is covered by the Himalayan hills. Hence, the lands in India have also very wide variety. India has only 2.4% of the worlds’ geographical area but supports over 16 % of the world’s population. Further, India has only 0.5 % of the worlds grazing lands but supports over 18 % of world’s cattle population. This tremendous pressure on land due to ever increasing human and domesticated animal population has led to conversion of productive lands into wastelands. Deserts, ravines, snow-clad areas and uncultivable land are among wasteland that abounds across states. Different agencies have made different assessments regarding wastelands in India. The difference is mainly due to use of different methodologies for estimation, changes with time period, use of different wasteland classification systems etc. Some of the estimates are as follow:

Source: Wastelands Atlas of India, 2010

In order to accurately monitor the wastelands in India, Department of Land Resources, Govt. of India, in collaboration with NRSC, Department of Space initiated a project titled ‘National Wastelands Monitoring Project (NWMP) and has published document “Wastelands Atlas of India, 2010”. In 2008, a harmonization exercise was taken up jointly by ICAR and NRSC and a practical and management-responsive estimate of wastelands/degraded lands was arrived at. The uniform classification system adopted by these agencies is enlisted in Table-1:

Some of the facts of wastelands in India as per “The Wastelands Atlas of India, 2010” are:

Total geographical area of India is 329 M ha

An estimated 47.22 M ha. have been found to be under wastelands in 2006, which is 14.91 % of the total geographical area of the country.
Jammu and Kashmir has more than 50% of its area under wastelands
Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim that have wastelands ranging between 40 – 50%
States viz., Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram have wastelands ranging between 20 to 40%. Meghalaya occupy only 15 to 20% wastelands
Nine States that accounted for the extent of wastelands ranging between 10 to 15%
Eight other States have wastelands ranging between 5 to 10%
Three States and Union Territories have less than 5 per cent area under wastelands. The Wastelands Atlas of India, 2011, updated the data regarding wastelands in India in 2008-09 and compared it with data of 2005-06 published in Wastelands Atlas of India, 2010. The methodology and classification system used were similar to Wastelands Atlas of India, 2010. Some of the important facts of Wastelands Atlas of India, 2011are:
About 32,000 Sq. Km. of wasteland has undergone a positive change in the entire country during the period, by getting converted into non-wasteland
The declining trend was observed in 21 states of the country.
Majority of the change areas have been found in the states of Rajasthan, Mizoram, Manipur, Gujarat), Bihar, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
Increase in total wasteland area was recorded in 8 states, where non-wasteland has been observed to have changed into wasteland, bringing down the net decrease in wastelands during 2008-09 to about 0.17 percent, compared to 2005-06.
The Map-1 and 2 show the status of wastelands and change in wastelands status in 2008-09 compared to 2005-06.

Map-1

Source: Wastelands Atlas of India, 2011, by Department of Land Resources Ministry of Rural Development, and National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Dept. of Space, Government of India

Map-2

Some data about the same has also been published by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt. of India as Statistical Year Book India 2017 as follow:

Table: 2 Status of wasteland in India (As per Statistical Year Book India 2017)

Source: Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.

Conclusion:

Due to large number of anthropogenic and natural activities, the land degradation has increased. In order to support the ever increasing population of humans and domesticated animals, there is utmost need to reclaim the waste lands. Programmes are being run by different countries to reclaim the wasteland and some of these have shown positive results. The mapping of wastelands after regular intervals is necessary to keep an eye on their status.

you can view video on Wasteland

Internet Sites:

https://data.gov.in/catalog/category-wise-wastelands-india
dolr.nic.in/dolr/wasteland_atlas.asp
www.dolr.nic.in/wasteland2010/wateland%20Introduction-%20forword%20.pdf
www.iasri.res.in/agridata/13data/chapter1/db2013tb1_21.pdf
www.mospi.gov.in/statistical-year-book-india/2017