Chart of Principal Causes of Soil Degradation
"About 2 million hectares of rainfed and irrigated agricultural lands are lost to production every year due to severe land degradation, among other factors." [1]
"It takes approximately 500 years to replace 25 millimeters (1 inch) of topsoil lost to erosion. The minimal soil depth for agricultural production is 150 millimeters. From this perspective, productive fertile soil is a nonrenewable, endangered ecosystem." [2]
2005 version of this chart
More Agriculture & Food Infographics
Sources
1. World Bank: "Land Resources Management", lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/ardext.nsf/ 11ByDocName/
2. "Soil as an Endangered Ecosystem", David Pimental, Bioscience; Nov 2000; "Population Growth and the Environment: Planetary Stewardship", Pimental, Dec 98, http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj09/piment1.html
Tags: soil and land degradation, soil erosion, agriculture, principal causes of soil degradation, agriculture-food
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