Question

Afforestation is necessary for
A) Soil conservation
B) Soil erosion
C) Well control
D) Low humidity

Answer 1

Hint: Afforestation is defined as the process of planting trees on the barren land or the land which has been occupied by the forest. This process involves various important steps like removing the stones, pebbles and removing the compaction of soil so as to sow new seed for new plant growth.

Complete answer:
The process of afforestation involves cleaning of the site and non compacting the soil so that this land can become fruitful for the cultivation purpose. The next important step is to increase the number of trees in the forest. In this step, it doesn't matter the type of, only the number matters. The soil is conserved by retaining its fertility which is done by growing native trees.

The best way to conserve soil is to increase the area present under the forest. Indiscriminately, tree cutting must be stopped and efforts must be made by everyone to plant trees in new areas. 20 to 25 per cent is the minimum area of forest land that should be present in the whole country and this is considered to be healthy for soil and water conservation. It was raised to 33 per cent in the second five-year plan and this proportion is 20 per cent for the plains and 60 per cent for mountainous regions.

So, the correct answer is (A) i.e, Soil conservation.

Note: When we take environmental benefits into perspective, then planting more and more trees is the most beneficial way to regenerate a depleted forest. Trees always help check atmospheric carbon dioxide and further large-scale afforestation can always curb the problems which are caused due to burning of fossil fuels and industrialization.