1. It occupies nearly 20 percent of the earthsurface.It covers around 13000 million hectares of thearea. The houses, roads and factories occupy nearlyone third of the land. The forests occupy another one third of theland.The rest of land is used for ploughing and formeadows and pastures.

2. The soil forms the surface layer of land whichcovers more than the 80 percent of land. The soil is defined as a natural body whichkeeps on changing and allows the plants togrow. The soil is defined as a natural body whichkeeps on changing and allows the plants togrow. The branch of science which deals with theformation and distribution of soil in thedifferent parts of the world is referred as apedology. 3. Land is used for different purposes likeagriculture, forestry, mining, buildinghouses, roads and setting up of industries. Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management andmodification of naturalenvironment or wilderness into builtenvironment such as fields, pastures, andsettlements 4. Land use practices vary considerably across theworld.It has also been defined as the arrangements,activities and inputs people undertake in acertain land cover type to produce, change ormaintain it. This is known as land use. 5. By educating, informing and sensitizing alllandholders about various aspects of thisprecious resources and their sustainable use.Contour ploughing is another measure toconserve our land. By this method, the fieldsare ploughed, harrowed and sown along thenatural contour of the hills. By terracing method: A series of wide steps aremade along the slop following the contours.This method is very common in rice growingregions. 6. Under the afforestation and reforestationprogrammes, planting of trees, bushes andgrass help to check the soil erosion.Strict actions are taken to check reckless fellingof trees and overgrazing. Shelter belts (rows of trees) are planted on themargins of desert areas to check the fury ofwind. Construction of dams and gully-trap inculcatethe water-harvesting. 7. Soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soilhorizons) ofprimarily mineral constituents, which differfrom their parent materials in theirtexture, structure, consistency, color, chemical,biological and other physical characteristics. Soil is composed of particles ofbroken rock that have been altered by chemicaland mechanical processes thatinclude weathering, erosion and precipitation. 8. Soil forms a structure that is filled with porespaces, and can be thought of as a mixture ofsolids, water and air (gas). On a volume basis a good quality soil is onethat is 45% minerals (sand, silt, clay), 25%water, 25% air, and 5% organic material, bothlive and dead.Little of the soil of planet Earth is older thanthe Tertiary and most no older thanthe Pleistocene. 9. Factors responsible for soil formation are :-1.Parent material2.Climate3.Living organisms4.Topography5.Time 10. The relative influence of each factor varies fromplace to place, but the combination of all fivefactors normally determines the kind of soildeveloping in any given place. We used a model of soil organic matter (SOM)quantity and composition to simulate steady-state organic matter levels for 24 grasslandlocations in the Great Plains. 11. Soil degradation is when soil deterioratesbecause of human activity and loses its qualityand productivity. Soil degradation is when soil deterioratesbecause of human activity and loses its qualityand productivity. It also happens when the soil structure breaksdown, or if the soil becomes toxic frompollution. 12. The primary cause of soil degradation iserosion, but compaction, salinization, anddepletion by nutrient demanding crops mayalso cause degradation. Soil degradation is which the movement of soilparticles from one place to another by wind orwater, is considered to be a majorenvironmental problem. 13. Certain conservation measures can reduce soil erosion.1. Agronomic: such as plant / soil cover, conservation farming methods, contour farming.2. Vegetative: such as planting barriers (vegetative strips), live fences, windbreaks.3. Structural: such as Fanya Juus, terraces, banks , bunds, cut off drains, barriers.4. Overall management: such as area closures, selective clearing. 14. Soil management practices such as tillage andcropping practices, directly affect the overallsoil erosion problem and solutions on a farm. When crop rotations or changing tillagepractices are not enough to control erosion on afield, a combination of measures might benecessary. 15. Mulching:- The bare ground between plants iscovered with a layer of organic matter likestraw. Contour barriers:- Stone, grass, soil are used tobuild barriers to collect water along contours.Trenches are made in front of the barriers tocollect water. Rock clam:- Rocks are piled up to slow downthe flow of water. This prevents gullies andfurther soil loss. 16. Terrace farming:- Board flat steps or terracesare made on the steep slopes so that flatsurfaces are available to grow crops. Intercropping:- Different crops are grown inalternate rows and are sown at different timesto protect the soil from rain wash. 17. Water is a chemical substance with the chemicalformula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen andtwo hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it oftenco-exists on Earth withits solid state, ice, and gaseous state. 18. Water covers 70.9% of the Earths surface, and is vitalfor all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planets water is found inoceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and theice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fractionin other large water bodies, and 0.001% inthe air as vapor, clouds and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earths water is freshwater, and 98.8%of that water is in ice and groundwater.Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, andthe atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of theEarths freshwater (0.003%) is contained withinbiological bodies and manufactured products 19. There is a scarcity of water in many regions of theworld. Most of Africa, West Asia, South Asia, parts ofWestern USA, north-west Mexico, parts of SouthAmerica and entire Australia are facing shortages infresh water supply. Countries located in climatic zones most susceptibleto droughts face great problems of water scarcity. 20. Water conservation refers to reducing theusage of water and recycling of waste water fordifferent purposes such ascleaning, manufacturing, and agriculturalirrigation. Water should be conserved to meet our dailyneeds and future use. 21. Methods for conserving water resources :-1. By using water properly and giving it time to get renewed.2. By using sprinkler system.3. By using drip irrigation system.4. By creating awareness. 22. CONSERVATION OFWATER RESOURCES-4 23. Natural vegetation and animal life depend onclimate, relief and soil. The diversity of Indias climate and relief havemade natural vegetation and animal lifeinterdependent on each other and they form asingle ecosystem. This ecosystem has evolved through thousands ofyears. 24. India has a wide variety of natural vegetation ranging from tropical evergreen forests to desert vegetation. The natural vegetation of India can be divided into six main types. They are : -1. Tropical evergreen forests.2. Tropical deciduous forests or Monsoon forests.3. Tropical thorn and shrub forests.4. Desert vegetation.5. Mangrove forests.6. Himalayan vegetation. 25. TROPICAL EVERGREENFORESTS This type of vegetation is found in areas whererainfall is above 250 cms and temperature rangesbetween 250C and 270C. Since the trees are always green they are calledevergreen forests. The heavy rainfall, high temperature and humidityare responsible for the growth of these denseforests. The trees grow about 60 mts. Ebony, mahogany, rose-wood and rubber are theimportant trees. Bamboo bushes are also found. 26. These forests are also called monsoon forests. They cover a greater part of India. They are found in regions where the rainfall is between75cms and 250 cms. These forests are found on the eastern slopes of the WesternGhats, Jammu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar andJharkhand. In these forests, the trees are fewer and shorter. The important trees of these forests are teak, sal and sandal-wood. The deciduous forests of Karnataka have sandal-wood trees.Wherever these forests are cut down or burnt, bushes andgrass have taken their place. 27. These forests are found in the central parts ofthe Deccan Plateau, southern parts ofMaharashtra, Bellary of Karnataka, Cuddaphaand Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh, where theannual rainfall is between 60 and 75 cms. These forests have short stemmed trees likeBabul and Kasavi trees and coarse grass.Palms and kikar trees are also found here. 28. This type of vegetation is found in regions wherethe annual rainfall is less than 50 cms. Rajasthans Thar desert, the borders ofPunjab, Haryana and Gujarat have this type ofvegetation. The trees, which grow here have deep roots, thickleaves and thorns. Date palms are common near oasis. Babul, palms, wild dates and cactus are theimportant trees. Babul tree yields gum and its bark yields tanningmaterial. 29. These forests are formed due to tides. They are found along the deltas and estuaries ofrivers that are subjected to tides.Pendent roots (like those of Banyan tree) are thecharacteristics of mangrove forests. The deltas of rivers Ganges, Godavari,Mahanadi and Krishna have these forests. In the Ganges delta, there are plenty of Sundaritrees and the forests are known as Sunderbans. These trees are used for making furniture andboats.Canes, palms and "Kendale" trees are also foundhere. 30. Different types of vegetation are found in theHimalayan mountains. The vegetation changes with altitude and rainfall. The lower regions of the Himalayas have tropicalevergreen forests up to 1,500 mts. Teak, sal and rose-wood are the important trees. They are also called coniferous forests.