In this article we will discuss about the schemes and progress of land reclamation.
Land Reclamation Schemes:
The schemes are those schemes which are of multipurpose character and cover a wide range of activities.
According to Pillai and Panikkar, “These are the schemes which provide not only for drainage and levelling of lands for cultivation or habitation but for linking up and coordinating these with the current of water courses, irrigation, road construction, organisation of communications, electricity undertakings, supply of drinking water, sanitation, housing, establishment of rural centres, agricultural industries and multitude of other amenities. Thus, land reclamation has come to be recognised not merely as a measure of land utilisation but as a complex policy contributing to over-all social and economic welfare.”
It is through land reclamation measures that culturable waste lands are brought under the plough.
The land covered with jungle and scrubs cannot be brought under cultivation without the aid of adequate labour and capital. The deep- rooted grasses like Kans cannot be eradicated without the assistance of tractors, and the drawing of marshy lands is frequently an expensive operation.
Provision of irrigation facilities involves heavy capital outlay and there is a limit to the rate at which open wells and tube wells can be constructed. Due to lack of suitable fencing and fire-arms protection against wild animals presents difficulties. In addition to those unhealthy tracts, it provides problems which is difficult to tackle.
Reclamation of Saline and Alkaline Lands:
There are about 6 million hectares of saline and alkaline soils in the states. They are characterised by high salt concentration or high alkaline reaction. Saline soils can be reclaimed by washing down of salts and flushing out of salts.
Heavy irrigation can remove these water soluble salts from the soil surface. This method is possible if there is a natural drainage, large supply of good quality irrigation water and a low water table (say of 1.5 to 2 metres below the surface). In the field to be reclaimed 1.2 to 2 metres deep water is allowed to stand on the surface for a day or so with occasional mechanical stirring after the period it is drained out of the field, thereby removing the maximum quantity of dissolved salts.
Saline soil can also be reclaimed by leaching down the soils to or below a depth of about 3 metres. Washed down to this depth, the salts cannot easily come up if the water table is low, or if there are sand strata in the sub-soil.
Salts accumulated on the saline soil surface could be removed by mechanical scrapping with the help of a karah. After scraping, farm yard manure at the rate of 15 tonnes per acre may be applied and ploughed in before sowing crop.
Proper soil management practices can reclaim saline salts. Crops can be grown on the sides of the ridges, salt generally come upto the top and accumulate on the top of the ridges without affecting the growing of crops. This salt can be removed by scrapping.
Certain crops are more salt-tolerant than others. Hence, salt tolerant crops can be grown in such soil and the salinity is reduced. Sugar beet, rape and mustard, cotton, barley, berseem, methi, castor, rice, salt bushes, trees like kikar (Caccia arabica), jand or khejri (Prosopis Specigeria), jal (Sulvadora-olleoides), palash (Dhak), Kharir (Capparis)- grasses like khar usar (sporobolus Arobious), and usrants (Chloris Wrigata), dub (Cynodon dactylon) and gandar (Andropogon Squarrosus) can go a long way in reducing the salinity of the soil.
The treatment of soil with gypsum at a rate of the gypsum requirement of soil (3 to 5 tonnes per acre) followed by flushing with plentiful supply of good quality irrigation water and growing a crop of dhaincha (Sesbania Aculeata) as green manure and transplanted paddy, lucerne, sugarcane and wild indigo give marked responses to remove surface encrustations of alkali.
Application of amendments like calcium chloride, sulphur and press mud are also useful.
The operational procedures followed in the reclamation of the land in Punjab, U.P., M.P., Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and elsewhere were:
(i) Initial breaking up and laying out into quarter-acre plots;
(ii) Levelling according to contours;
(iii) Green manuring, Jantar in kharif and senji in rabi;
(iv) Raising rice crops in kharif and berseem, gram, wheat in rabi.
(v) In the post-reclamation phase, cotton sugarcane, oilseed and fodder were grown.
(vi) Application of farmyard manure to these degraded land to help restoring their productivity.
In the coastal areas, reclamation process of these land comprised:
(i) Protection of area from sea water,
(ii) Drainage of area by means of a system of drain ditches.
(iii) Provision of adequate inundation of the area to ensure removal of salts by leaching.
Reclamation of Water-logged Land and Lands Rendered Barren by Flood and River Action:
According to the latest available figures, the Punjab is the most affected state with water-logging followed by Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi; Punjab (25,00,000 acres), Maharashtra (55,230 acres), J. and K. (4,500 acres); Delhi (3,200 acres). Besides Sutlej and Yamuna Valleys in Punjab are subjected to heavy floods from these rivers. The Yamuna has a low Land on the right side for about 100 miles and during monsoon the river overflows the bank causing huge devastation of crops and cultivated lands.
In Bihar, annual flooding of rich alluvial land is a regular feature. The Brahmaputra River causes annually extensive flood damage to Assam valley land. In West Bengal, Orissa and Rajasthan (Hanumangarh area) serious damage is caused practically every year from floods in rivers. Thus, extensive areas at present are lying waste or are very little utilised because of the devastating floods. These areas along the bank of rivers (of the width of 2.2 to 4 kms.) are very fertile. These areas may be reclaimed for cultivation by the construction of suitable embankments along the rivers.
Areas under canal irrigation are getting water-logged, as a result of which sub-soil water level has steadily risen and large tracts of land are going out of cultivation especially in the Indo-Gangetic plains which have flat land and poor out-flats This problem of surface drainage can be met by planning efficient drainage systems, including channel, improvements and flood control. On the other hand, sub-surface drainage could be improved by means of deep drains, title drains, shallow tube-wells or by reducing seepage into the underground reservoir by lining canals.
Through proper sub-surface drainage the following benefits accrue:
(i) It gives the root zone greater depth, which increases the available supply of plant food and moisture.
(ii) It results in warmer soil and aeration of soil which is conducive to the better growth of plants.
(iii) It provides physical improvements of the soil resulting in granular structure producing good tilth.
(iv) It helps in removal of surplus water enabling crops to withstand wet weather conditions.
Introduction of drainage brings about favourable changes in the soil properties such as structure, permeability, moisture availability, air capacity and nutrient availability, all of which influence plant growth. Therefore, tree plantations are cheaper and more efficient in dealing with the swampy lands. Fast growing eucalyptus species, casuarina, tamarix, ber, teak, mango, toona, terminalia, acacia, prosopis, and among grasses para, dallis, napier and guinea grass (for fodder purposes), korai and murta (for preparing mats) and muja for thatching, may be profitably planted.
Crops of economic importance, which can tolerate varying degrees of water-logging, are given in the table below:
Reclamation of Torrent-Ruined and Desert Lands:
It has been estimated that in all about 200 m. acres (70 m. hectares) of land-affected from ravages of soil erosion—needs protection by soil conservation measures. Such areas exist along the rivers in the states of M.P., U.P., Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa and Gujarat. Such lands can be reclaimed by a simple type of afforestation, controlled grazing, terracing and other soil conservation measures like contour cultivation, strip- cropping, proper crop planning, construction of dams and bunds.
The Great Indian desert, which encompasses the western half of Rajasthan (covering 11 districts of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu, Pali, Jalor (these 8 form the “core” of the desert) Ganganagar, Jhunjunu and Sikar and extends over parts of Gujarat (including parts of Mesana and Bankskantha districts) and Haryana (covering Bhiwani, Hissar and parts of Rohtak districts) covers nearly 234, 895 sq. km.
It is spreading at the rate of 1/2 mile (0.8 km.) per year for the last 50 years and its encroachment upon approximately 50 sq. miles (13,000 hectares) of fertile land every year. These desert areas need early re-habilitation.
Till recently, no efforts were made to reclaim deserts on the universal belief that land plants must have fresh water to survive. But experiments carried out by Israeli scientists have shown that some desert soils irrigated with sea and brackish groundwater can grow valuable food crops such as barley, potatoes, wheat and maize. In the Negev Desert at Elath on northern shore of the Red Sea, where the annual rainfall is less than one inch and the soil consists mainly of stones and sand, some 180 species of plants generally thought to need fresh water were tried solely under saline water irrigation and the plants survived.
The scientists attributed their success to coarse soil with low clay content—the type of soil often found in deserts. Water placed on such soil rapidly percolates and disappears in a matter of minutes, but the brief period during which it passes through the root area gives the plants enough time to absorb all the necessary nutritive elements without allowing the harmful sodium and magnesium salts to damage the roots.
It was also noticed that these plants were more tolerant to salt if the soil consisted mainly of sand or gravel, and the plants irrigated with saline water were able to withstand a drought period of some nine months whereas the same species irrigated with fresh water died after a short period of water deprivation.
To meet the threatening scarcity of water, scientists have mostly been concerned with methods of changing the relationship between the water in the hydro-sphere and that in the atmosphere. Research workers at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, have conceived the alternative idea of trying to decrease the water requirements of cultivated crops.
A single tonne of hay absorbs 500-1,000 tonnes of water in one growing season, but only a little is retained (one part in 500 to 1,000). For more irrigation water passes from the soil to the air through the plants than is lost by direct evaporation from the soil. Recent tests have shown that transpiration of such massive quantities of water is not vital for plant growth or survival.
Preliminary results of experiments indicate that under adverse conditions of high temperature and low atmosphere humidity, the water requirements of various crops such as beans and grapes may be reduced. Treatment with anti-transpirant has increased unirrigated grape yields by as much as 15 per cent.
Polythene sheets have also been used for collecting and concentrating occasional showers. Showers are normally just sufficient to wet the soil but soon evaporate in the heat. When water from a large area is led to a small pit and concentrated on the roots of plants, it can contribute to effective growth. It can also help wash the accumulated salts from the soil.
A lot of water provided for irrigation is lost by evaporation while in storage and transport. Occasions come when such losses exceed the amount up to actual use. Therefore, if efficient means of preventing these losses could be found, the available supply might be augmented.
Experiments have shown that evaporation from storage tanks and reservoirs can be reduced by using one molecule thick layer of certain alcohols on the water surface. Although efforts are still on to solve the problem of wind and wave action which tends to push this film to one side, a 20 to 30 per cent reduction of evaporation has already been achieved in field tests.
Efforts are afoot in India to prevent the growth of arid areas and to reclaim the barren desert of Rajasthan. For the stabilization of sand dunes, ESSO has developed ‘a sand dune stabilization oil’ which has been tried out successfully in Libya, Tunisia and other areas. The spraying of this oil prevents sand movement and stabilizes the dunes for young tree seedlings to become established. The sapling in turn provide their own wind protection their roots binding the soil and the leaves providing the much needed humus.
ESSO has also developed an ‘agricultural mulch’ which directly influences two soil environmental factors- the soil’s temperature and moisture content—factors which are essential to vigorous plant growth. The mulch, which is liquid spray derived from petroleum forms a low porosity black, film placed directly over seed beds. The black film absorbs a high proportion of incident solar radiation resulting in increased seed zone temperature (upto 40 degree F. higher than that of bare soil), helpful for the early germination of seeds.
Also, since the mulch forms a continuous film, evaporation of moisture from the seed zone is retarded, thereby conserving moisture. Both these factors greatly enhance plant response. Additional benefits of mulch include protection of soil against the erosive forces of nature, and reduction of the rate of leaching of soil nutrients and chemicals. Tests carried out with this mulch have shown remarkable results, raising the output of such garden crops as carrots, onions, sugar beets and cantaloupes from 10 to 60 per cent. The mulch shows great promise in areas of marginal rainfall in India.
The National Commission on Agriculture has recommended the following measures for rehabilitation of the desert areas:
(i) To check further determination of the desert, digging of phog, which accelerates wind erosion and dune formation should be discouraged.
(ii) Pasture development, regulated grazing and creation of grass reserves should constitute an important programme of the rehabilitation of the desert. Rotational grazing and grass reserves should be planned in fairly large blocks, each of a minimum of 200 hectares.
(iii) All shifting dunes in the canal command area, along Rajasthan canal (on land varying width upto 300 metres), should be stabilized by planting over with grass and trees to prevent sand casting on arable land. Grazing of livestock on these dunes should be restricted so as not to disturb the soil.
(iv) In other cultivated areas suitable shelter belts and wind breaks should be established to minimise the desiccating effect of hot winds and reduce sand casting.
(v) A programme of reclamation of saline lands in the ‘tal’ areas in the command of a channel should be put through during the first few years of irrigation development when there would be spare water.
(vi) A programme of tree growing on the sides of main canal, branches and major distributaries should be implemented on a priority basis.
Reclamation of Degraded Forest Areas:
There exists a large hectare of degraded forest area or areas under grassland which need reclamation. In such areas, soil fertility can be maintained by adopting suitable cropping patterns. Soil fertility can also be regained by growing green manuring crops. Afforestation of wastelands can be done with a view to improving the productivity of such areas and arresting their further deterioration.
Soil characteristics of wastelands, viz., shifting sand dunes in desert areas, skeletal and rocky soils, denuded hill slopes, heavy black soil with or without kankar pans will decide the plant species to be grown. The wasteland which may be economically reclaimed for agriculture should be utilised after reclamation for crop production with adequate soil conservation measures and most of the other wasteland should be afforested with quick growing fuel plantations.
Possibilities of Future Extension of Cultivation Area are Dim:
About 80 million hectare out of total net cultivated area of 140 million hectares is estimated to be suffering from varying degree of degradation. According to the present indications possibilities exist for reclamation and development of about 40 million hectares of saline, alkaline, ravine and coastal sandy areas as also culturable waste lands and old fallows other than current fallows, this is gigantic task which would need suitable technological practices. The Seventh Plan attaches high priority to land stock improvement covering reclamation.
In brief, it may be said that the possibilities of bringing fresh land under cultivation are very limited partly because the area of culturable waste land is very limited; and partly because it is a very costly affair requiring huge capital, and technology which are at present lacking. Besides, the depletion of land resource under a heavy pressure of population, is rendering the land resources position more precarious.
Further, land utilisation can be more extensive in newly settled and sparsely populated countries of the world like Canada, U.S.A., Siberia, Australia, but in old densely populated countries of China, India and Japan, where adjustment to physical environment has been accomplished through centuries and the pressure of growing population has exhausted the use of all land usable, the pattern of land use is mostly determined by the physical capabilities of land and the application of modern scientific and engineering techniques.
In these countries, the possibilities of increasing production from farm land lie much more in the direction of improved agricultural forest or pasture management techniques in attempting a more intensive land use pattern.
Progress of Land Reclamation:
Prior to 1946, no attempts were made to find out the extent of cultural wasteland that could be reclaimed. However, the Bengal Famine Enquiry Committee, 1945 and the findings of the Food Grains Policy Committee of 1947 drew pointed attention towards the problem.
The letter of Committee recommended that 3 m. tonnes of additional food grains could be obtained by reclamation of 9 m. acres of weed -infested and jungle lands. The matter received consideration and the availability of 300 tractors left by the U.S.A. and other Allied Governments gave a spirit to the land reclamation programme. The scheme of land reclamation had to be undertaken both by Central and the State governments.
In Tamil Nadu, 1,88,540 acres of private and Government wasteland was reclaimed; while in M.P. the area reclaimed totaled about 2,05,000 acres by the end of the First Plan period.
Land Reclamation Work under the Plans:
During the First Plan a total area of about 2.06 million hectares was reclaimed by the Central and State Tractor Organisation and by private parties against a total target of about 2.87 hectares.
The target for reclamation in the Second Plan was 0.61 m. hectares through the Tractor Organisation against which 0.93 m. hectares were reclaimed.
The target laid down in the Third Plan under both State Government schemes and the Centrally sponsored scheme of reclamation of wastelands and resettlement of land envisaged reclamation of 1.46 m. hectare which included some minor land levelling work of 0.8 m. hectares in the command area of Rajasthan Canal Project. Against this target, till the end of March 1968, a total of about 2 m. hectares was reclaimed.
In the Fourth Plan, reclamation of land for agricultural use was given a lower priority than quick-growing programmes like minor irrigation, high yielding variety, application of fertilizers, etc.
Schemes for reclamation, and development of land in assured rainfall areas are implemented by the different State Governments with financial assistance from Agricultural Refinance Corporation.
Schemes on soil conservation in the catchment of inter-state river valley projects and the flood prone rivers, reclamation of alkaline soil, control of shifting cultivation and development of riverine areas were taken up during the Seventh Five Year Plan. Soil and watershed conservation activity covered about 2.4 million hectare by the end of the Seventh Five Year Plan.
Similarly, watershed management in the catchment of flood prone rivers was also implemented during Eighth Five Year Plan. Upto the Seventh Five Year Plan 3.78 million hectare have been treated under watershed management Programme. Eighth Five Year Plan placed high priority for soil and water conservation. Central sector outlay for soil and water conservation was Rs. 800 crores during Eighth Five Year Plan.