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Photo: Getty Images Desertification setting in across a quarter of India
Another 30% of the county’s land is undergoing degradation. What does this mean for the country where more than 60% people depends on agriculture? Read more
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This Maharashtra district, one of India’s land degradation hotspots, struggles with soil erosion coupled with low forest cover, illegal felling of timber and overgrazing. 
Water table in Barkitand village of Giridih district has fallen from 8 metre below the ground level in 2013 to about 10 m in 2017. 
Lack of planning has potential of becoming the biggest degrader of land in Goa. For more, 
Experts blame shifting cultivation for land degradation as about 20,000 hectares of forest is felled every year in the state for it. 
Rapidly disappearing springs will eventually impact rivers and cause desertification in the plains. 
Dwindling rainfall, dependence on borewell for water-guzzling horticulture increase soil aridity. 
Water guzzling apple orchards and rampant tourism is affecting the state. 
Introduction of a non-native plant, Prosopis juliflora, in the region on the recommendation of the third Planning Commission to fight salinity, worsened the ecology and increased desertification. 
Increasing agricultural activity reversed soil erosion in the district. .png)
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