ABSTRACT
The task of providing food security to India’s burgeoning population is becoming increasingly difficult. Around 70% of the India’s population is living in rural area with agriculture as their livelihood support system. The vast majority of Indian farmers are small and marginal. The farm size is decreasing further due to population growth. The quality of land is also degrading due to various reasons resulting decline in agricultural productivity leading to food insecurity. Land degradation can be defined as a temporary or a permanent lowering of land productivity through deterioration of land’s physical, chemical and biological conditions. It represents a complex ensemble of water erosion, wind erosion, soil compaction, salinization and waterlogging. An area is said to be waterlogged when the water table rises to an extent that the soil pores in the root zone of a crop become saturated, resulting in restriction of the normal circulation of air, decline in the level of oxygen and increase in the level of carbon dioxide. The water table, which is considered harmful would depend upon the type of crop, type of soil and the quality of water [6].