APPRAISAL OF SOIL EROSION RISK IN THE EASTERN HIMALAYAN REGION FOR INDIA FOR SOIL CONSERVATION PLANNING

Abstract

MANAGEMENT PRACTICE TO MINIMISE SOIL EROSION CAN BE EFFECTIVELY CARRIED OUT IF THE MAGNITUDE AND THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL EROSION RISK AREAS ARE KNOWN . PRIORITISATION OF SOIL EROSION RISK AREAS IS A CHALLENGING TASK , ESPECIALLY IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BECAUSE OF THE NON- AVAILABILITY OF RELEVANT DATA AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS FOR SUCH AN ASSESSMENT . AS A RESULT IT BECOMES , DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE SOIL CONSERVATION MEASURES ON THE RISK- PRONE AREAS TO REDUCE SOIL LOSS AND ENSURE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF SOIL RESOURCES . SUCH A DATABASE CAN BE BETTER GENERATED AND ANALYSED IN A GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) ENVIRONMENT TO DEILENATE AND PRIORITISE THE SOIL EROSION RISKS AREAS AT STATE OR REGIONAL LEVEL. THEREFROE, A METHODOLOGY WAS DEVELOPED TO ASSESS THE SOIL EROSION RISKS IN EASTERN HIMALAYAN REGION BY INTEGRATING SPATIAL DATA ON PREVAILING EROSION RATES AND SOIL LOSS TOLERANCE LIMITS IN GIS ENVIRONMENT. BY COMPARING THE POTENTIAL EROSION RATES WITH PERMISSIBLE RATES , WE OBSERVED THAT ABOUT 58.94% OF TOTAL GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF THE REGION REQUIRES DIFFERENT DEGREES OF EROSION MANAGEMENT AND 28.38 TGA FALLS UNDER NO TREATMENT CATEGORY BECAUSE OF HIGHER VALUES OF PERMISSIBLE EROSION LIMITS. IT CAN BE EASILY APPLIED TO ASSESS AND PRIOITISE SOIL EROSION RISKS IN ANY REGION OR COUNTRY AND IDENTIFY BEST MANGEMENT PRACTICES TO BRING THE EROSION LOSSES WITHIN THE PERMISSIBLE LIMITS