Vol. 11, Special Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Ganapathy Ramu M and M Asokhan

Abstract:
Advancing food security and environmental sustainability in farming systems requires an integrated soil fertility management approach that maximizes crop production while minimizing the mining of soil nutrient reserves and the degradation of the physical and chemical properties of soil that can lead to land degradation, including soil erosion. Climate change is further aggravating land degradation, soil erosion and soil fertility. Farmers are in the situation to adopt practices that offer restoration of degraded land and stop further land degradation. The present study was conducted in selected three districts of Tamil Nadu state covering 233 respondents to analyse their perceptions about soil fertility and awareness on soil erosion problems. The result shows that, more than two-thirds of the respondents (68.24%) had low to medium level perception about soil fertility. Further, overwhelming majority (80.68%) farmers had low to medium level of awareness on soil erosion problems.