Soil Fertility Degradation and Land Use Pattern in Agricultural Practices: A Study in Cooch Behar District of West Bengal, India

Abstract

The diminution of soil fertility in Cooch Behar requires consequent locale-specific measures. The alluvium of the district gave rise in the past to terrific agricultural productivity but the reports record patches of lower canvas over the plain. The aims of the study are to investigate the major causes of soil fertility degradation and the relationship between land use patterns and soil quality degradation. The soil deterioration is evidenced and measured by various ones: falling soil organic carbon (SOC) and organic matter, unbalanced macro-nutrient ratios, resulting from disproportionate nitrogen attention, local deficiencies of potassium and micro-nutrients accounting for lack of crop-responsiveness and deficiency tolerance. The present study follows an analytical, descriptive research design based on the secondary data only. The analytical aspect of the study aims at finding out, interpreting and explaining the processes and causes of soil fertility degression in the agricultural lands of Cooch Behar district. The Cooch Behar district of the northern alluvial plains of West Bengal is noted for its fertile soil and high agricultural productivity. The soil fertility of the agricultural lands has been very low over the years due to natural and anthropogenic causes. The major causes of its impact on agricultural productivity are discussed with suggestions to improve the fertility of the soil here. In the Cooch Behar district, an investigation into the process of decline of soil fertility reveals a complex interaction among environmental, agronomic and socio-economic factors, to which is jointly attributable the situation which threatens the agricultural systems of the area with extinction.