Land degradation

No soil phenomena is more destructive worldwide than the erosion caused by wind and water. Past civilizations have disintegrated as their soils, once deep and productive, washed away, leaving only thin, infertile, rocky relics of the past.

We already know the function of soils. But do we know how much time it takes to form an inch of soil?

Land degradation - soil science

Nature takes under most favorable condition 500-1000 years or more to build an inch of soil.
So, when 7 inches of topsoil is allowed to wash away, at least 2000-5000 years of nature's work goes to waste. Once it is lost from any field it is irretrievable in human life scale.

We should also know that if we do not conserve our soil there will be exposed bedrock, no crops, no foods, no pure water, no growth medium, no foundations, no technology, no development. All of these result in poverty, fall of economy, impure water, no vegetation, climate change, global warming due to the release of carbon dioxide from soil. Ultimately, civilizations will collapse.

Conserve our soil or we will all die one day, we will die gradually.

The current world threat of soil erosion is more ominous than at any time in history. In the low income countries, the ratio of people to available crop is already high and rising rapidly.

We need at least 0.5 hectare land per capita.

But do we have any idea what is happening?

Table 1: Population and Arable land from 1800 to 2100

	World
Year	Arable Land (hectare)	Population (billion)
1800	1.5	1
1951	0.6	2
1986	0.3	4.5
2000	0.23	6
2050	0.15	9.7
2100	0.14	11

(Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/262618/forecast-about-the-development-of-the-world-population/)

Land Degradation map - soil conservation

Have you seen the table??

In 1800, we had 1.5 hectare land per capita which was three times greater than the requirement. But what about now?

Is it good?

No.

Even in 2000 we had 0.23 hectare land which will be 0.15 hectare in 2050. Can we think about it to which we are heading towards?

One day there will be no land for cropping, no land for feeding the extra mouth.

Increases in agricultural production are possible through modern methods. But these advances in science will be useless unless there is enough good land for farming. If the soil on which all agriculture and human life depend is waster away then the battle to "free mankind from want" can not be won.