Impact of Agriculture on Soil Degradation I: Perspectives from Africa, Asia, America and Oceania

Series Preface
Preface
References
Acknowledgments
Contents
Agricultural Land Degradation in Argentina
1 Introduction
2 Types of Land Degradation in Argentina
3 Characteristics of Land Degradation in the Main Regions of the Country
3.1 Northwest Region
3.1.1 Soil Salinization in Northwest Region
3.1.2 Situation of the Arid Areas of Northwest Region
3.1.3 Soil Contamination Evidences
3.2 Northeast Region
3.2.1 Land-Degradation Processes in Northeast Region
3.3 Pampas Region
3.3.1 Physical Soil Degradation in Pampas Region
3.3.2 Salt-Affected Soils in Pampas Region
3.3.3 Agrochemical Contamination in Pampas Region
3.4 Cuyo Region
3.4.1 Soil Salinization in Cuyo Region
3.5 Patagonia Region
3.5.1 Agricultural Land Use Impacts on Soil Degradation: Erosion Processes in Patagonia
3.5.2 Soil Salinization in Irrigated Areas
3.5.3 Other Economic Activities Triggering Soil Degradation in Patagonia
4 Concluding Remarks
References
Agricultural Soil Degradation in Australia
1 Introduction
2 Agricultural Land Degradation Drivers and Impacts on Australian Soils
2.1 Soil Erosion in Australia
2.2 Soil Compaction in Australia
2.3 Salinization and Acidification of Australian Soils
2.4 Soil Contamination
3 Impacts of Climate Change on the Agricultural Sector in Australia and Implications for Land Degradation
4 Conclusions and Future Perspectives
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in Peru and Bolivia
1 Introduction
2 Levels of Soil Erosion in Agricultural Areas in Peru and Bolivia
2.1 The Amount of Soil Degradation in Agricultural Lands
2.2 The Distribution of Soil Erosion in Agricultural Lands
3 Causes and Impacts of Soil Degradation
3.1 Agriculture Production Dynamics
3.2 Soil Erosion and Salinity
3.3 Soil Erosion and Soil Organic Carbon
3.4 Irrigated Agriculture Effect on Slope Stability in Peru
3.5 Pesticide Pollution Risk
3.6 Soil Degradation and Microplastics
3.7 Overgrazing
3.8 Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
4 Solutions to Soil Degradation
4.1 The Role of Technology
4.2 New Agriculture Techniques
4.3 Reforestation
4.4 Erosion Control Regulation
5 Conclusions
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in Brazil
1 Insights from Agriculture and Land Degradation in Brazil
2 Water Erosion
2.1 Cerrado
2.2 Atlantic Forest
2.3 Amazon
2.4 Pantanal, Pampa, and Caatinga
2.5 Water Erosion Studies in Brazil
2.6 An Estimate of Water Erosion Rates in Brazil
2.7 Soil and Water Conservation in Brazil
3 Wind Erosion
4 Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
5 Soil Compaction and Overgrazing
6 Salinity
7 Agrochemicals Use
8 Microplastics
9 Challenges and Future Perspectives for Agriculture and Land Degradation in Brazil
References
Agriculture Land Degradation in Chile
1 Origins and Evolution of Agriculture
2 Pest Management Impact on Soil Contamination in Agricultural Areas
3 Soil Water Stress and Climate Change
4 Agrochemical Use and Soil Contamination
4.1 Agricultural Fertilisers
4.2 Microplastics Contamination
5 Land-Use Change and Geomorphological Processes
6 Final Remarks and Conclusions
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in China
1 Introduction
2 Soil Compaction and Erosion
2.1 Effect of Soil Compaction on Soil Physicochemical Properties
2.2 Soil Compaction Risk in Farmland Systems
2.3 Technical Strategies for Avoiding or Mitigating Soil Compaction
2.3.1 Soil Tillage Management
2.3.2 Technical Improvement Measures
2.4 Prospects of Research on Alleviating Soil Compaction
3 Overgrazing
4 Slash and Burn Agriculture
4.1 Classification of Slash-and-Burn Patterns
4.2 Solutions for Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
4.2.1 Exploration of Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
4.3 Expectation
5 Salinity
6 Agrochemical Use and Soil Contamination
6.1 Current Hazard
6.2 Remediation of Farmland Soil Contaminated by Agricultural Chemicals
6.3 Comprehensive Control Countermeasures of Farmland Polluted by Agricultural Chemicals
6.4 The Way Forward
7 Microplastics
7.1 Classification of Microplastics in Soil
7.2 Sources of Microplastics in Soil
7.3 Solutions to Microplastic Environmental Pollution
7.4 Future Development
8 Conclusion Remarks
References
Agricultural Soil Degradation in Colombia
1 Introduction
2 Natural Regions of Colombia and Taxonomic Diversity of Soils
3 Methodology
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Agricultural Soil Degradation Process in Colombia
4.1.1 Erosion
4.1.2 Compaction
4.1.3 Reduction of Soil Organic Matter (SOM)
4.1.4 Acidification
4.1.5 Desertification
4.1.6 Salinization and Sodicity
4.1.7 Macro and Microfauna Loss
4.1.8 Contamination
4.1.9 Nutrient Loss
4.2 Soil Degradation Extension in Natural Regions of Colombia
4.3 Main Causes and Consequences of Soil Degradation in Colombia
4.4 Conflicts by Soil Use in Colombia
4.5 Viable Agricultural Practices to Reduce Soil and Land Degradation
4.6 Research Gaps and Enabling Factors in Colombia for Soil and Land Sustainability
5 Conclusions
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in India
1 Introduction to Agricultural Land Degradation in India
2 Policy Framework of India for Agriculture Promotion
3 Land Degradation Status in India
4 Land Degradation Status in the Climatic Zones of India
5 Land Degradation Processes in India
5.1 Soil Erosion and Overgrazing
5.2 Salinity/Alkalinity
5.3 Waterlogging
5.4 Agrochemicals
5.5 Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
5.6 Microplastics
5.7 Fluoride
6 State-Wise Land Degradation Status
7 Mitigation Strategies Adopted in Agro-Climatic Zones of India
7.1 Himalayan Region
7.2 Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP)
7.3 Dry and Arid Regions
7.4 Coastal Regions
7.5 Red and Black Soil
7.6 Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
8 Concluding Remarks
References
Degradation of Agricultural Lands in Israel
1 Israeli Agriculture and Soil Degradation
2 Soil Erosion
2.1 Soil Erosion by Water
2.2 Soil Erosion by Wind
3 Loss of Organic Carbon
4 Agronomic Approaches for Soil Degradation Mitigation
5 Salinization and Sodification by Irrigation
6 Agriculture Land Loss to Construction and Infrastructure
7 Concluding Remarks
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in Kenya
1 Introduction
2 Land Degradation
3 Causes of Land Degradation in Arid and Semi-arid Drylands in Kenya
3.1 Livestock Overgrazing
3.2 Introduction of Exotic Invasive Plant Species
3.3 Soil Nutrient Mining
3.4 Climate Variability and Change
3.5 Irrigation Agriculture
3.6 Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining
3.7 Increase in Human Population
4 Combating Land Degradation in Kenya: A Historical Perspective
4.1 The Swynnerton Plan
4.2 Sessional Paper No.10 African Socialism and Its Application to Planning in Kenya
4.3 National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Arid and Semi-arid Lands of Kenya
5 Some Strategies to Combat Degradation in Arid and Semi-arid Drylands in Kenya
5.1 Conservation Agriculture
5.2 Dryland Agroforestry Systems
5.3 Indigenous Grass Reseeding
5.4 Rangeland Enclosures
6 Conclusions
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in Mexico
1 Introduction
2 Agriculture in Mexico
2.1 Traditional Farming
2.2 Intensive Industrial Agriculture
3 The Soils of Mexico
4 The Health of Mexican Soils
4.1 Physical Degradation
4.2 Chemical Degradation
4.3 Water and Wind Erosion
5 Examples of Soil Degradation Across Mexican Ecoregions
5.1 Mexican Temperate Highlands
5.2 Tropical and Subtropical Dry Forests
5.3 Degradation of North American Deserts
6 Sustainable Agriculture
7 Conclusions
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in South Africa
1 Introduction
2 Natural Resources
2.1 Climate
2.2 Soil
2.3 Vegetation
3 Land Use and Production
4 Soil Degradation
4.1 Plinthite Formation
4.2 Surface Crusting
4.3 Subsoil Compaction
4.4 Structural Decay
4.5 Erosion
4.5.1 Wind Erosion
4.5.2 Water Erosion
4.6 Fertility Decline
4.7 Elemental Imbalance
4.7.1 Acidification
4.7.2 Salinisation
4.7.3 Pollution
4.8 Organic Matter Change
4.9 Organism Change
4.10 Pathogen Increase
5 Land Degradation
6 Summary
References
Agricultural Land Degradation in the United States of America
1 Introduction
2 Soil Erosion
3 Loss of Soil Organic Matter
4 Overgrazing
5 Salinization
6 Acidification
7 Soil Contamination
8 Concluding Remarks
References