Rehabilitation of Barren Sodic Land in North India

Sodic lands, commonly found in north India in sporadic patches, do not support any significant vegetation cover and are difficult for rehabilitation in agriculture and forestry sectors due to various soil constraints. Several efforts have been made in past few decades to reclaim and utilize this hostile land for agriculture and forest production through chemical and biological methods, respectively. Although soil amelioration is relatively slow through biological, it is stable and ecofriendly. Uttar Pradesh Land Development Corporation has developed a rice-wheat cropping system on these lands to some extent through World Bank assistance. Some alternative models developed by National Botanical Research Institute, (NBRI) have been proposed for rehabilitation in horticulture and forestry sectors. Forest ecosystem developed on sodic land besides generating the additional resources and soil reclamation, provides several intangible benefits (ecosystems services) essential for vital life. Reclamation, restoration, ecosystem management and soil amelioration have been described and future guidelines were suggested for efficient reclamation and utilization of sodic land. It would be better to develop such barren land in integrated land use system involving herbs, shrubs and trees to maximize the land use efficiency. Initially native salt tolerant species are established applying proven silvicultural technology. In due course of time other semi-tolerant species are introduced to form understory and ground layer. Reclamation and rehabilitation of sodic land in agriculture and forestry sectors was emphasized as both are equally important acting as complimentary and supplementary to each other.