Submitted to:

Dr Adeel Anwar

Submitted by:
Hamza Hafeez
19-Arid-4580

Agr-603 BNF

Topic: Restoration of Soil Fertility

Restoration of Soil Fertility

Subject-Matter of Soil Fertility:

Soil is the covering of the solid crust of the earth’s landmass. It is a complex mixture of
eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and billions of living
organisms, most of them microscopic decomposers. It is a potentially renewable resource
for which there is no substitute but it is produced very slowly by the weathering of rocks, by
sediments deposited by erosion, and by the decomposition of organic matter in dead
organisms. Soils develop and mature slowly. 

Earth’s current mature soils vary widely from biome to biome in color, content, pore space,
acidity, and depth. Mature soils are arranged in a series of zones called soil horizons, each
with a distinct texture and composition that varies with different types of soils.

Most mature soils contain three horizons: 

(i) the top layer, the surface-litter or O-horizon, consisting mostly of freshly fallen and
partially decomposed leaves, twigs, animal waste, fungi, and other organic materials; 

(ii) the topsoil layer, or A-horizon, with a porous mixture of partially decomposed organic
matter (humus) and some inorganic mineral particles; and 

(iii) the subsoil B-horizon contains most of a soil’s inorganic matter. It is mostly broken down
rock consisting of varying mixtures of sand, silt, clay, and gravel. 

The roots of most plants and most of a soil’s organic matter are concentrated in these two
upper layers. As long as these layers are anchored by vegetation, soil stores water and
releases it in a nourishing trickle instead of a devastating flood. The two top layers of most
well developed soils teem with bacteria, fungi, earthworms, and small insects that interact
in complex food webs. 

Some organic litter in the two top layers is broken down into a sticky brown residue of
partially decomposed organic material called humus. Because humus is only slightly soluble
in water, most of it stays in the topsoil layer. Humus coats the sand, silt, and clay particles in
topsoil and binds them together into clumps, giving a soil its structure. 

It also helps topsoil hold water and nutrients that are taken up by plant roots, and it
provides spaces for the growth of nutrient absorbing root hairs and a class of fungi known as
mycorrhizae, that are the mutualistic partners of some trees and other plants.

Soil Fertility:
Soil fertility is the capacity of the soil to supply essential nutrients for the growth and
sustenance of the plants. Soil is a dynamic system with physical, chemical and biological
components. Fertility level of the soil is related to its physical and chemical components
while its productivity depends on the microbial population. 

The surface dry soil is generally crusty due to the growth of microorganisms such as
cyanobacteria, algae and lichens. These organisms occur here due to availability of light for
their photosynthetic activities and availability of less amount of water providing favourable
habitat. By being here, free- living nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria contribute to fixed nitrogen
to the arid soil ecosystem. 

Biological crusts have ecological value, especially in providing germination grounds for seeds
of flowering plants. Soil particles form an intimate association with these microorganisms
and form a biological crust which covers the soil surface as a coherent layer. Biological soil
crusts occur in hostile environmental regimes such extreme temperature and light and
water scarcity. 

Microorganisms in such crusts withstand adverse ecological conditions and act as pioneers
of succession on soil, a reservoir of plant nutrients and as agents for the incorporation of
organic carbon and nitrogen through photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation.

Without fertile soil and the microbial fauna that inhabit it, food would not grow, dead things
would not decay and nutrients would not recycle. Life on earth depends directly on the
living soil and the aquatic ecosystems of rivers. An estimate showed that 10% of the fertile
soil of the planet has been transferred by human activities from forest into desert while 25%
or more is at risk. Cropland is already in scarce in many of the developing countries and is
getting scarcer with the expansion of urbanization. Therefore, soil fertility is an important
issue for the very existence of life in general and mankind in particular.

Restoration of Soil Fertility: 

Fertilizers restore plant nutrients lost by erosion, crop harvesting and leaching. Farmers can
use either organic fertilizer from plant and animal materials or commercial inorganic
fertilizers produced from various minerals. Three basic types of organic fertilizer are animal
manure, green manure and compost. Animal manure includes the dung and urine of cattle,
horses, poultry, and other farm animals. 

It improves soil structure, adds organic nitrogen, and stimulates beneficial soil bacteria and
fungi. Green manure is fresh or growing green vegetation plowed into the soil to increase
the organic matter and humus available to the next crop. Green manure in the form of
leguminous crops is an important option to improve nitrogen load in the soil. 

Compost is a rich natural fertilizer and soil conditioner that aerates soil, improves its ability
to retain water and nutrients, helps prevent erosion and prevents nutrients from being
wasted in landfills. Farmers and homeowners produce compost by piling up alternating
layers of nitrogenous rich wastes, weeds, animal manure, and vegetable kitchen scraps,
carbon-rich plant wastes, and topsoil.

This mixture provides a home for microorganisms that aid the decomposition of the plant
and manure layers. Composting also reduces the amount of waste taken to land fills and
incinerators and can be done easily with little labour. 

Farmers using crop rotation plant areas or strips with such nutrient- depleting crops one
year; the next year they plant the same areas with legumes whose root nodules add
nitrogen to the soil. This method helps restore soil nutrients and reduces erosion by keeping
the soil covered with vegetation. It also helps reduce crop losses to insects by presenting
them with a changing target. 

Soil erosion is an important issue in dry land; salt affected soil and water logging are the
major problems of irrigated lands; they cause increasing decline in productivity over the
years and in course of time would lead to abandonment of the land. These problems are
further aggravated by bringing out more and more new lands under canal irrigation without
properly managing the existing lands. Water-logging problem on irrigated lands is to be
tackled by providing better drainage facilities. 

Salinity and alkalinity problems are much more aggravated in areas where more than one
source of flow irrigation exists, low precipitation, unscientific use of water, improper
cropping pattern drainage facilities. The underground water table rises and brings with it
dissolved salts from substrata when water use is excessive. When water evaporates, it
leaves salts caked on the surface, making the soil finally useless agronomically. Salts with
poor internal drainage facilities are mainly responsible for accumulation of salt in the root
zone.

Integrated Water Shed Management is a major preventive method, which involves soil and
water conservation efforts integrated with suitable cropping pattern. This method involves
constructions such as check dams along the gullies, bench terracing, contour bunding, land
leveling and planting of grasses along contours. These will increase percolation of water into
the subsoil system, reduce surface run off, reduce soil erosion and improve the water
availability. Controlling of soil erosion involves maintaining a good vegetal cover on the
watershed to prevent sedimentation.

Land degradation monitoring is needed to formulate conservation strategies for the

sustainable use of land resources. Satellite Remote Sensing is a very useful and popular
technical tool supplemented by other tools like Geographical Information and Global
Positioning System. A rough estimate of soil erosion and sedimentation for India shows
that about 5,300 million tonnes of top soil are eroded annually and 24% of this quantity is
carried by rivers as sediments and deposited in the sea, and nearly 10% is deposited in
reservoirs reducing their storage capacity by 2%.

Soil management and vegetation are crucial in the rehabilitation of degraded lands. Its
management depends on soil capability, climatic conditions, plant species, infrastructure
and local policies. Soil rich in organic matter and covered with vegetation minimize siltation
and enhance the water yield in the catchment. 

Reforestation as a measure of rehabilitation should be based on scientific input. Local

conditions, survival, adaptability and productivity find high place in species selection.
Genetic quality of selected species to withstand adverse environment is important for the
growth and adaptability to soil with different depth and water retention capacities. 

Establishment of plant species depends primarily on the development of good root system.
The inherent characteristics of a plant species to propagate or regenerate itself vegetatively,
when damaged, are also important for survival. The basic parameters for selection of
species for wasteland adaptability include survival at nursery and transplantation level on
site, high establishment rate, good root and growth system, high reproductive fertility,
enhancement of soil nutrient status, good regeneration, recovery from damage through
vegetative propagation or seed and meet the local requirement of fuel, food and fodder. 

The decisive factors in species selection are site-specific local species, silvicultural
characteristics of the species and utilization potential of species. Exotic species take the last
consideration and that only when the indigenous species are unable to thrive in a degraded
ecosystem. With the selected species, afforestation is to carried out with multi-species
approach. 

This approach with native species would be more advantageous from the point of resistance
to pest and diseases, meeting the local demand, perennial water source and more efficient
utilization of environmental resource. This serves as a better cover to the soil and aids in
regeneration of soil. 
The plant species suggested for reforestation in degraded lands of subtropical and tropical
parts of India include Acacia catechu, A. auriculiformis, Butea superba, Pongamia pinnata,
Schleichera oleosa, Madhuca latifolia, Emblica officialis, Cassia fistula, Strychnos nux-vomica,
Odina wodier, Buchanania lanzan, Careya arborea, Terminalia chebula, Pterocarpus
marsupium, Phoenix sylvestris, Mangifera indica, Bambusa arundinacea, Dendrocalamus
strictus, Azadirachta indica, Aegle marmelos and Sapindus emarginatus. 

Rehabilitation and sustainable management of land are essential to meet the gap between
demand and supply, create employment in rural areas and strengthen rural infrastructure,
check soil erosion and malnutrition, reduce runoff by water and wind, maintain biological
diversity and the nutrient storage in soil matrix. 

Soil and vegetation management practices enhance biomass productivity and return more
biomass, both above and below ground to the soil. Deep-rooted cover crops and foliages
enhance the organic carbon pool in the subsoil.