MGNREGS to Fund Work to Reverse Desertification of Land Across States : Daily Current Affairs

Date: 05/10/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment Disaster and disaster management

Key Phrases: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, UN Convention To Combat Desertification, The Bonn Land Degradation Neutrality Fund

Why in News?

With limited funds to deal with the extensive task of restoring degraded land and reversing desertification in the country, the government is planning to bring convergence between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).

Key Highlights:

According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas published by the Environment Ministry in 2021, at least 30% of India’s total geographical area is under the category of “degraded land”.
Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Goa have more than 50% of land area undergoing desertification or degradation, while States with less than 10% land degradation are Kerala, Assam, Mizoram, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.

How will the convergence of the two schemes help in tackling soil degradation?

The activities such as ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture and pasture development will be done under the proposed plan.
These activities would be undertaken using MGNREGS funds, which go towards both material and wage components.
The government will scale up the land area to be restored by making use of the MGNREGS fund, which for the financial year 2022-23 has a budget of ₹73,000 crores.
A convergence with the MGNREGS can help take up treatment of about 30% more land than feasible with the current scheme size since, as of now, there is a Central allocation of ₹8,134 crores only for developing 4.95 million hectares.

Government commitments related to combat desertification?

In 2019, the government raised its target of restoration of degraded land from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares by 2030 following a commitment made during the UN Convention to Combat Desertification(COP14).
However, even after three years, the government is nowhere near this target.
Though the Ministry has been making efforts to contribute towards meeting the international commitment, the constraints posed on the economy by the pandemic restricted the target to 4.95 million hectares by 2025-26.
Therefore, there is a compelling reason to explore alternative opportunities to fulfill the commitment.

What is desertification?

As per UNCCD, ‘Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations.’

Various Causes of Desertification:

Overgrazing: Overgrazing makes it difficult for the plants to grow back, which hurts the biome and makes it lose its former green glory which results in the formation of desert biomes.
Green Revolution: Practices that were the core of green revolution, such as chemical fertilizers, mechanized tillage, excessive irrigation and intense monoculture have altered the structure of the soil, leading to its salinization and subsequent degradation.
Overdrafting of groundwater: Over drafting is the process in which groundwater is extracted in excess of the equilibrium yield of the aquifer that is pumping or the excessive pulling up of groundwater from underground aquifers causing desertification.
Urbanization and Other Types of Land Development: Clearing of forests and green cover for urbanization and developmental activities aggravates the effect of natural elements of erosion on the soil. For eg: The degradation of Aravalli hills, due to the clearing of natural vegetation for real estate.
Climate Change: Climate change plays a huge role in desertification. As the days get warmer and periods of drought become more frequent, desertification becomes more and more imminent.
Stripping the Land of Resources: Mining of resources from the land usually strips the soil of nutrients, which in turn kills the plant life, and eventually leads to the process of becoming a desert biome as time goes on.
Natural Disasters: There are some cases where the land gets damaged because of natural disasters, including drought. In those cases, there isn’t a lot that people can do except help rehabilitate the land after it has already been damaged by nature.
Soil Pollution: Soil pollution is a significant cause of desertification. When soil becomes polluted due to various human activities, the respective area of land may suffer from desertification in the long run. The higher the level of pollution more will be the degradation of soil over time.
Overpopulation and excessive consumption: As the world population is continuously growing, the demand for food and material goods is also increasing at an alarming rate leading to exhaustion above the carrying capacity of the land.

International Efforts to combat desertification:

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD):
- It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management which was established in 1994.
- India is a signatory to the UNCCD and is committed to achieve a land degradation neutral status by 2030.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is the Nodal Ministry to oversee the implementation of the Convention in the country.
The Bonn Challenge:
- It aims to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
Land Degradation Neutrality(LDN) fund:
- The LDN Fund is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private capital for sustainable land management and landscape restoration activities worldwide that contribute to the achievement of land degradation neutrality.

Steps taken by the Indian Govt to Prevent Land Degradation:

Desert Development Program:
- It was launched in 1977-78 to minimize the adverse effect of drought and control desertification through rejuvenation of natural resources of the identified desert areas.
- It was launched to achieve ecological balance, promote overall economic development and improve the socio-economic conditions of such areas.
Integrated Watershed Management Program:
- It was launched in 2009-10 and implemented by the Department of Land Resources of the Ministry of Rural Development to restore ecological balance by conserving natural resources such as water, soil, and vegetative cover.
- After 2015, this scheme became a part of the umbrella scheme Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana under NITI Aayog.
National Afforestation Program:
- It was launched in 2000-01 under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for the ecological restoration of degraded forests areas and to develop the forest resources with the participation of people, with a focus on improvement in livelihoods of the forest communities.
National Mission for Green India:
- It was launched in 2014 with the objective of protecting biological resources against the adverse effect of climate change and recognizing the vital impact of forests on ecological sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood security.
- It aims to protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover within 10 years.
Drought Prone Area Program (DPAP):
- It was the earliest area development program launched by the Government of India in 1973-74 with the basic objective of minimizing the adverse effects of drought on the production of crops, livestock, and productivity of land which ultimately leads to drought-proof areas.
Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management Program:
- It is a joint initiative of the Government of India and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
- It aims to contribute to poverty alleviation in India by effective use of natural resources, by improving the productivity of land and ecosystem, and by protecting from extreme weather events, such as climate change.
- One of its objectives is to control land degradation by restoration of degraded lands and biomass cover and make sustainable use of natural resources.