Soil

Soil Grades: Above an impervious layer of rock that is found at depths of 6 to 15 metres, several kinds and grades of soil are found across Bundelkhand. Broadly, the soils fall into two categories: red soils and black soils. Across Bundelkhand, soils of both categories have poor organic content. The second variety of black soil, called mar, is what is generally called black cotton soil. It has high clay content and is prone to water logging. The soil has relatively high organic matter content, and hence can be cropped without use of fertilizers. It is found in parts of the districts of Jalaun (Konch tehsil), Hamirpur (Maudaha, Rath tehsils), Jhansi (Mauranipur, Moth) and Banda (Banda tehsil). In small patches, it is found in other districts as well, such as in southern Lalitpur, and parts of Sagar district.

Wastelands in Bundelkhand:

Roughly, a total of over 11,000 sq km, or over a sixth of the area of Bundelkhand falls under four broad categories of wasteland, according to estimates given in the Wasteland Atlas of India, prepared by the Department of Land Resources, Government of India, on the basis of satellite data.

The atlas lists nearly 30 different kinds of wastelands found across the country. Among these, wastelands found in Bundelkhand can be grouped as: land affected by shallow, medium or deep gullies; wastelands with or without scrub in lowlands or uplands; degraded notified forest lands and barren, rocky and totally uncultivable land.

Wastelands under main categories (2005)

Source: Wastelands Atlas of India, 2005, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Minor wasteland areas under some categories not listed.

Over half the total wasteland of the region is wasteland with or without scrub; over half this land is found in the Bundelkhand Intermediate sub-region, in Chhatarpur district. Half the area of the district is wasteland. Around a quarter of the total wasteland is degraded notified forest land, found mostly in Bundelkhand Upland (Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Panna) and Sagar and Damoh plateaus.

Around a tenth of the wasteland is land affected by gullies, found mostly in Bundelkhand Plain; Datia and Banda districts are the most severely affected. While barren, rocky land is a natural, fixed feature, land affected by gullies and ravines and degraded forestland can be recovered. However, land affected by gullies and ravines in Bundelkhand is increasing. Some efforts to recover gully land were made in the 1950s and 1960s, but no major programme has been launched in the recent past and various stages of gully formation are proceeding at an uncontrolled rate.

At the first stage, formation of shallow gullies, land can be recovered for agriculture use. However, at the second and third stages, when medium and deep gullies are formed, the land is practically lost forever. Every year, an additional 0.5% of the total land in Bundelkhand Plain is the estimate to be affected by gully formation.

A new form of land degradation is growing rapidly in Bundelkhand - due to extensive quarrying. The loss is most visible in Tikamgarh, where according to satellite data used in the 2005 Wasteland Atlas of India, some 20 sq km had already become a mining wasteland. At the rate quarrying is progressing, one can expect similar loss in Jhansi, Chitrakoot and Mahoba districts.

Soil Loss in Bundelkhand Plain

The Bundelkhand Plain sub-region in particular, Banda, Hamirpur and Datia districts are severely affected by soil loss and suffer from over-drainage due to a large number of rivers and streams. A number of nalas scour of these watercourses, rendering a large amount of land worthless. Land is cut away by fast-flowing water and flooding leads to loss of precious topsoil.