Information about soil erosion

It is one form of soil degradation. Soil erosion occurs in almost all types of lands. Flowing water, rain water, and the wind are the prime agents which cause a significant amount of soil loss each year. Too much of soil erosion causes serious loss of topsoil and also reduces crop production potential, lower surface water quality, and damaged drainage networks.
Causes of Soil Erosion:
(i) Due to Soil Texture – If the texture is loose that is the soil contains more of small grains and of open structure erodes faster.
(ii) Slope – Soil present in a steeper slope more than the soil present at a plane level of the ground.
(iii) Intensity or Amount of Rainfall – More intense rain, more erosion. This can be a bit slow if there are more trees present in the land as the roots of the plants hold soil in a firm manner.
(iv) Human Activities – Agricultural practices, deforestation, roads and urbanization and global warming are few major causes of soil erosion.
(v) Deforestation – Mismanaged utilization of soil resources like the removal of forest cover causes soil erosion heavily. Due to increasing land demand, the human is more into deforesting lands. Tree roots act as a binder of the top layer of the soil.