Soil Degradation, Erosion, Salinity & Desertification

Soil forms at a pace measured in centuries, yet it can be lost in a single season of wind, rain, or mismanagement — and across much of the world it is disappearing or declining far faster than it can renew. Erosion strips away fertile topsoil, salts accumulate where drainage and irrigation go wrong, and once-productive land slides toward desertification when vegetation and structure collapse. The Soil Degradation, Erosion, Salinity & Desertification session confronts these threats head-on, examining the processes that drive land degradation and the practices that can halt or reverse them. It traces how water and wind erosion, salinisation, compaction, and nutrient depletion unfold, and why arid and intensively farmed regions are especially vulnerable.

What early signs reveal that a soil is beginning to degrade before productivity visibly falls? How can salt-affected land be reclaimed without simply shifting the problem elsewhere? These diagnostic and remedial questions guide the discussions, which connect soil science, hydrology, and land-management practice. Delegates at this Agriculture Conference will explore how land degradation and soil erosion control can be achieved through cover, structure, drainage, and vegetation management. The programme spans erosion processes, salinity and sodicity, desertification dynamics, and the diagnosis and monitoring of degraded land. By treating degradation as a process that can be understood, predicted, and interrupted, the session helps researchers and land managers protect the thin, irreplaceable layer on which agriculture depends.