Living Land

[

] 84

Combating desertification under climate

variability, climate change and reduction

of water resources in India

L. S. Rathore, N. Chattopadhyay and S. D. Attri, India Meteorological Department

big part of the world’s area is arid and prone to

desertification. Over the past few years, it has

become increasingly clear that desertification

is one of the most pressing global environmental chal-

lenges threatening to reverse the gains in sustainable

development in different parts of the world.

Various assessments by United Nations Environmental

Programme have continued to show that desertification

results from complex interactions among physical, chemi-

cal, biological, socioeconomic and political problems that are

local, national and global in nature. In India, 25 per cent of

the total land area is undergoing desertification while 32 per

cent is facing degradation for various reasons such as climate

variability, leading to extreme weather like drought, floods

and heatwaves, and the trend of different climatic parameters,

leading to reduction of water resources. This has affected the

productivity of crops and ultimately the livelihood and food

security of millions across the country. Thus the dryland areas

are more prone to desertification in India. Desertification and

loss of biological potential restricts the transformation of

drylands into productive ecosystems.

Dryland areas in India comprise annual rainfall between

40-100 cm and practically no irrigation facilities. They

India’s dry farming tract (left) and regions of land degradation (right)

Source: India Meteorological Department (left), NCC report, India Meteorological Department (right)

iving

and