Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Soil Pollution
- Factors causing Infertility of Soil
- Summary
- What’s Next?
In the previous segment of the chapter ‘Natural Resources,’ we learned about how soil is formed. In this segment let us get ourselves introduced to soil pollution.
What is Soil Pollution?
Soil pollution refers to anything that causes contamination of soil and degrades the soil quality.
What are the factors that make the soil infertile?
There are many activities that make the soil infertile. Let us look at two of them.
- Agricultural practises
Farmers use a large amount of fertilizers and pesticides that harm the soil in the following manner:
-
- Soil contains innumerable microorganisms which are very useful for recycling nutrients in the soil. If these harmful pesticides kill the microorganisms, the nutrient content in the soil will reduce, thus making the soil infertile.
- These chemicals also kill the earthworms which make humus. Humus is the remains of the dead matter of plants and animals and earthworms help create this humus by working on this organic matter. Humus is responsible for making the soil fertile. It also helps soil to absorb water and allows air to penetrate right into the ground. If humus is not produced then gradually the soil will lose its fertility.
- Soil erosion: Soil erosion also makes the soil infertile. Let us see how.
Water and wind are powerful when they are in motion. This powerful action causes the topmost layer of the soil, that is the most fertile part of the soil to be carried away. The soil without its top layer is infertile soil.
Cutting of trees also contributes towards erosion. That is because the roots of the trees hold the soil together and prevent it from being carried away. Hence, we can prevent soil erosion by planting more trees.
