Soil degradation processes under agriculture and the practices to reverse the degradation processes for environmental sustainability

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.