Question

Total percentage of the culturable waste land in India?
(A) 8%
(B) 7.7%
(C) 4.41%
(D) 3%

Answer 1

Hint
3287263 sq. km = Total geographical area of India
144,639 sq. km = Total Culturable wasteland area of India

Complete Solution Step by Step
Definition
1. The non-technical concept of wasteland in Dictionary is 'an empty area of land, particularly in or near a city, which is not used for agriculture or planting, or used in any way, and/or a place, time or circumstance which does not contain something positive or profitable, or which does not have any specific quality or operation.
2. ICAR has suggested that wastelands are fields that are not being used to their full extent due to neglect or destruction.
3. They can arise from innate or forced disabilities or both, such as location, climate, chemical and physical properties, and may also be subject to management conditions.
4. According to the Integrated Wasteland Planning Plan, wasteland is a degraded area which can be taken under vegetative cover with sufficient effort and which is already under usage and which is degrading due to lack of proper water and soil control or natural causes.

Culturable Wasteland
1. Land which has the ability to establish vegetative cover and which is not utilised due to various restrictions to differing degrees, such as
2. erosion,
3. water logging,
4. salinity, etc. is called Culturable Waste Land

Non Culturable Wasteland
Land that cannot be established for vegetative cover, such as desolate rocky areas and snow-covered glacier areas are called Non Culturable Wasteland

Solution
1. The key to solve any problem is first to provide a valid data set; the wasteland problem can only be solved if there is concrete baseline data that can be used for research.
2. The data collected can be
(A) Climate (rainfall, temperature , wind speed,);
(B) Topography (angle of slope, length of slope);
(C) Erosion (range and strength of erosion);
(D) Soil Properties (physical and chemical).

Option C. 4.41% is the correct answer.

Note
1. The system used to boost wasteland would depend on the form of wasteland.
2. Traditional approaches can include
(A) In-situ management methods to increase soil moisture content (bundling, terracing, etc.);
(B) to encourage natural regeneration;
(C) water harvesting;
(D) To encourage agro-forestry.