C-MASC 04-09

GLOBAL SOIL RESOURCES

BASE: DEGRADATION AND

LOSS TO OTHER USES

R. Lal

Carbon Management and Sequestration Center

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH 43210 USA

WORLD POPULATION GROWTH

Year Population (Billions) Growth Rate (%/y)

1650 0.550 -

1750 0.725 0.276

1850 1.175 0.483

1900 1.60 0.617

1930 2.00 0.744

1950 2.56 1.23

195 4.00 1.78

1980 4.48 2.27

1986 5.00 1.83

1990 5.33 1.60

1995 5.68 1.27

2000 6.13 1.52

2025 8.18 1.15

(Bartlett, 2004)

PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE BETWEEN

1900 AND 2000 (PONTING, 2007)

Parameter

Increase Factor Between

1900-2000

Population 3.8

Urban Population 12.8

Industrial output 35

Energy Use 12.5

Oil Production 300

Water Use 9

Irrigated Area 6.8

Fertilizer Use 342

Fish Catch 65

Organic Chemicals 1000

Car Ownership 7750

EMISSION FROM FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTIONYear Emissions (Tg C/y)

1750 3

1800 8

1850 54

1860 91

1880 236

1900 534

1920 932

1940 1299

1960 2535

1980 5155

1990 5931

1995 6190

2000 6299

2005 7000

2008 8000

(Kondratyev et al., 2003; Marland

et al., 2001; IPCC, 2007)

C-MASC 04-09

HUMANS AND LAND

RESOURCES

Humans have converted a third of the land area

- almost 3.8 billion hectares - to agriculture and

urban or build up areas. Most of the remainder

land is unsuitable for agriculture.

GLOBAL TRENDS IN

AGRICULTURAL LAND

C-MASC 04-09

Year

Area (106 ha)

Cropland Grazing Land Pasture

1700 265 6860 -

1850 537 6837 -

1920 913 6748 -

1950 1117 6780 -

1980 1346 6788 3244

1990 1396 - 3368

2000 1398 - 3442

(Richards, 1900; FAO, 2008)

WORLD IRRIGATED LAND AREA(Brown, 2000; FAO, 2005)

Year Area Irrigated (106 ha) %

1950 97 8.6

1960 135 11.3

1972 176 13.1

1980 210 14.5

1990 244 16.1

2000 275 17.9

2003 277 18.0

~ 20% of irrigated land is salinized

C-MASC 04-09

THE HABER-BOSCH PROCESS

3 CH4 + 6H2O 3 CO2 + 12 H2

12 H2 + 4 N2 8 NH3

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GLOBAL FERTILIZER USE(IFDC, 2004; Tilman et al., 2001)

Year

Area (106 Mg/yr)

N P K Total

1950 <10 - - <10

1960 11.6 10.9 8.7 31.2

1970 31.8 21.1 16.4 73.3

1980 60.8 31.7 24.2 116.7

1990 77.2 36.3 4.5 138.0

2000 80.9 32.5 21.8 135.2

2020 135.0 47.6 -

2050 236.0 83.7 -

C-MASC 04-09

C-MASC 11-08

RELATED DEGRADATION

TERMS

1. Soil Degradation

2. Land Degradation

3. Land Desertification

4. Vulnerability to Desertification

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C-MASC 04-09

SOIL DEGRADATION

It reduced agricultural productivity by ~15%

between 1950 and 2000. For three centuries

ending in 2000, topsoil has been lost at the rate of

300 million tons/yr. Between 1950 and 2000,

topsoil was lost at the rate of 760 millions tons per

year.

Biological Processes of Soil Degradation

Processes, Causes, and Factors of Soil Degradation

Interactive effects of biophysical factors and human dimensions

SOIL DEGRADATION

Process Area (106 ha) % Total Land Area

Water Erosion 1094 8.4

Wind Erosion 549 4.2

Chemical Degradation 239 1.8

Physical Degradation 83 0.6

Total 1965 15.0

Total Earth’s Land Area = 13,069 Mha

C-MASC 04-09

(Glasod, 1994)

CONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL

DEGRADATION

Continental Area (106 ha)

% Total Degraded

Land Area

Asia 749 28.1

Africa 494 25.1

South America 243 12.4

Europe 218 11.1

Oceania 102 5.2

North America 96 4.9

Central America 63 3.2

Total 1965 100

C-MASC 04-09

(Glasod, 1994)

ESTIMATES OF DESERTIFICATION

IN ARID LANDS

Desertified Land Area Desertification (106ha)

Irrigated 43

Rainfed Cropland 216

Rangeland (Soil & Veg.) 757

Rangeland (Veg.) 2576

Total 3592

Total Arid Land Area 5172

% Desertified 69.5

C-MASC 04-09

(UNEP, 1991)

ESTIMATES OF DESERTIFICATION

IN ARID LANDS

Process Area Desertified (106ha)

Water Erosion 478

Wind Erosion 513

Chemical Degradation* 111

Physical Degradation 35

Total 1137

% Degraded 22.0

* ~ 54 M ha of chemically degraded land is salinized

C-MASC 04-09

(Glasod, 1998)

VULNERABILITY TO DESERTIFICATION(Eswaran et al., 2001)

Class Area Affected (106ha) % of Global Land Area

Low 1460 11.2

Moderate 1361 10.5

High 712 5.5

Very High 791 6.1

Total 4324 33.3

C-MASC 04-09

LAND DEGRADATION BY NDVI(Bai et al., 2008)

Parameter Value

Area degraded (106 ha) 3506

% of land area 23.5

Total NPP loss (Tg C/y) 955

Total Population affected (billion) 1.54

% Total Population 23.9

C-MASC 04-09

C-MASC 04-09

Conversion of Soil to

Non-Agricultural Uses

�UrbanizationIndustrialization Military Uses

Residential Infrastructure RecreationWaste

Disposal

ManufacturingFoodProcessing

• Contamination

• Pollution

• Testing

• Firing ranges

• Training

• Security Buffers

• Accommodation

• Health Services

• Roads

• Airports

• Shopping Malls

• Shipyards

• Golf Courses

• Parks

• Sport Arenas

Reduction in soil resources base through conversion to non-agricultural uses

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OTHER LAND USES

Land Use Area (106 ha)

Urbanization 351

Plantations 142

Pollution 22

C-MASC 04-09

SOIL DEGRADATION

QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED

1. Credible estimates of soil degradation.

2. Interaction between processes, factors and causes.

3. Impact of soil degradation on ecosystem services.

4. How to restore degraded soils.

5. Land use and management to minimize degradation risks.

6. Impact in food security and human nutrition.

7. Policy interventions to reverse degradation.

8. How to enhance soil resilience.

9. How to improve communication among stake holders.

10

.

Creating a central data bank.

C-MASC 04-09

C-MASC 04-09

LAW #1

CAUSES OF SOIL DEGRADATION

The biophysical process of soil

degradation is driven by economic,

social and political forces.

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LAW #2

SOIL STEWARDSHIP AND

HUMAN SUFFERING

When people are poverty stricken,

desperate and starving, they pass on their

sufferings to the land.

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Law #3

NUTRIENT, CARBON AND WATER

BANK

It is not possible to take more out of a soil

than what is put in it without degrading its

quality.

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LAW #4

MARGINALITY PRINCIPLE

Marginal soils cultivated with marginal

inputs produce marginal yields and

support marginal living.

THE ULTIMATE RECYCLING

AN IMPOSSIBLE ECOSYSTEM

C-MASC 04-09

LAW #5

ORGANIC VERSUS INORGANIC

SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS

Plants cannot differentiate the nutrients

supplied through inorganic fertilizers or

organic amendments.

C-MASC 04-09

LAW #6

SOIL CARBON AND GREENHOUSE

EFFECT

Mining C has the same effect on global warming whether it is through mineralization of soil organic matter and extractive farming or burning fossil fuels or draining peat soils.

CARBON BALANCE

Gains

Losses

Residues

Compost

Root biomass

Erosion

Decomposition

Leaching

Soil Carbon DepletionC-MASC 04-09

Soil Carbon Sequestration

SOIL CARBON DEPLETION

Gains

LossesErosion

Decomposition

Leaching

Compost

Crop Residues

Cover Crops

Root Biomass

C-MASC 04-09

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LAW #7

SOIL VERSUS GERMPLASM

Even the elite varieties cannot extract

water and nutrients from any soil where

they do not exist.

C-MASC 04-09

Law #8

Soil As Sink For Atmospheric CO2

Soil are integral to any strategy of

mitigating global warming and

improving the environment

C-MASC 03-09

LAW #9

ENGINE OF ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable management of soils is the

engine of economic development, political

stability and transformation of rural

communities in developing countries.

C-MASC 04-09

Law #10

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND

MODERN INNOVATIONS

• Sustainable management of soil implies

the use of modern innovations built

upon the traditional knowledge.

• Those who refuse to use modern

science to address urgent global issues

must be prepared to endure more

suffering.

C-MASC 04-09

NOT TAKING SOILS FOR

GRANTEDIf soils are not restored, crops will fail even if rains do

not; hunger will perpetuate even with emphasis on

biotechnology and genetically modified crops; civil

strife and political instability will plague the developing

world even with sermons on human rights and

democratic ideals; and humanity will suffer even with

great scientific strides. Political stability and global

peace are threatened because of soil degradation, food

insecurity, and desperateness. The time to act is now.

Lal (Science, 2008)

DESTINY

“By the law of Karma, you are in control

of your own destiny. It is, therefore,

important to care for hills and

cows…and protect the forests than

worship Indra”.

Srimad Bhagavatam

10.35C-MASC 04-09