ABSTRACT
Feeding the rapidly increasing population is the major issue for the modern world, which is even more highlighted due to the reduction in fertile and productive agricultural land resources. A soil is said to be fertile if it has enough nutrients required for healthy plant growth. The appropriate amounts of essential nutrients in available form make it productive. The availability of nutrients in soil—and ultimately the soil productivity—is affected by many factors including soil erosion, salinity, water logging, continuous cropping, and desertification, etc. Land degradation is the major problem for sustainable agriculture. The available data suggest that land and environmental degradation are increasing at a pace which is diminishing the productive capacity of the fertile soils. The naturally occurring soil processes, as mentioned above, are hammering crop yields and deteriorating the environment. The major causes of land degradation in Pakistan include: soil erosion, nutrient mining and depletion of soil fertility, soil salinization, desertification, pollution, physical degradation, poor organic matter, and improper land use. Degraded lands can be reclaimed through biological means and fitting plant life is an economical way for their rehabilitation. It is imperative that technical programs must include education components extension, which should create awareness, capacity building, and the active participation of farming community including NGOs, civil society, women, and youth. The present chapter highlights factors and causes responsible for land degradation that result in low crop-yields in Pakistan, and suggests suitable technologies and remedies to mitigate land degradation for sustainable yields.
