Abstract: The aim of this review paper is to understand more about soil degradation process under global
agriculture and the practices to reverse the degradation process for environmental sustainability.
The data and relevant information have been collected from a range of printed and online sources
which then represented to fulfill the aim of this review paper. The overall economic growth of an
agro-based country depends on the sustainable agricultural ecosystem in connection with the
proper management of agricultural soil. Soil degradation is a global crisis that affects the world
food economy in terms of improper agricultural practices. The huge population pressure in the
developing countries, inequity and poverty in some parts of the world have influenced the
farmers for increasing the cultivable land connected to agricultural production. Therefore, the
degradation rate in agricultural soil has significantly increased both in developed and developing
countries. The EU (European Union) in 2012 has identified eight different threats reducing
normal function of the soils. These threats are water and wind erosion, reduction of soil organic
matter (SOM), contamination, sealing, compaction, loss of soil biodiversity, salinisation,
landslides and floods, desertification and acidification. However, The concept of conservation
agriculture (CA) and organic farming are the major issues of the practices to reverse the
degradation process of soil although some others practices such as ridge tillage, contour farming,
sub-soiling, intercropping, grasslands, agro-forestry, conservation buffers and terracing have
been proved beneficial directly in the field. However, improvement and amendment of many
suggested technologies considering the adaptation to local physiographic and climatic conditions
should be reconsidered soon. Political commitment and government willingness are also important issues for the practices of soil conservation under agriculture. Also, policy makers
should be aware of giving emphasis on policy formulation to practice sustainable agriculture in
the world because sound soil management policies could be the ways of proper solution to
reverse the soil degradation processes under agriculture to ensure environmental sustainability. |