Land Degradation, Desertification, and Food Security in North-East India: Present and Future Scenarios

Abstract

Land degradationLand Degradation and desertificationDesertification are an extremely fast emerging problem in the present scenario for North-East (NE) India. The climate of NE India is tropical, mountainous terrainMountainous Terrain, steep hills with thick vegetative cover. In recent time due to increasing population and exploitation of the rich natural resource, unsustainable land use, agricultural practices, and changing climatic conditions, such as intense rainfall and flood, lead to cause land degradationLand Degradation and desertificationDesertification. People residing in near the bank of the river are most vulnerable due to food shortage and povertyPoverty. Land use of NE India is changing attributed the rapid increase in population, mining activities, increasing urbanisation, reduction in forest cover, unsustainable agriculture practicesUnsustainable Agriculture Practices leading in the declining of the fertility of the soil and creating a significant challenges to food securityFood Security in future. The rate of reduction in the area of productive land accelerating as compared to the past due to increasing the incidence of climate change. There is a critical requirement of efficient measures for land managementLand Management and conservation in NE India. Therefore to assess the present and prediction of future scenarios, the objective of the present chapter is to study the relationship with land degradationLand Degradation, desertificationDesertification, food securityFood Security, and approaches to emphasis for mitigation measuresMitigation Measures for land degradation and desertification.