Chumki Banik

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on soil erosion in agriculture. The first chapter identifies different types of soil degradation, focussing primarily on soil erosion by water. The chapter explores the impact of soil erosion processes on soil properties that relate directly to crop growth, including soil depth, water-holding capacity, carbon content and nutrient reserves. The second chapter reviews advances in techniques used to assess and measure soil erodibility by water, such as computer aided tomography. The chapter considers the role of static and dynamic soil properties in the erosion process, as well as the challenges that have developed as a result of climate change. The third chapter assesses the impact of heavy metal contamination on soil and its consequent role in the degradation of soil health. The chapter describes the sources, impacts, indicators and remediation of heavy metal contamination, as well as the development of improved soil management practices, including effective pollution control strategies. The final chapter discusses the implementation of integrated strategies under Conservation Agriculture (CA) farming systems to restore soil productivity in degraded agricultural lands in tropical and subtropical regions in Brazil. The chapter additionally considers the adoption of CA as a tool to prevent and reverse instances of soil degradation.

This collection features four peer-reviewed reviews on major contaminants in agricultural soils. The first chapter discusses emerging technologies for remediating soil polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and their contamination routes. The chapter also addresses techniques for their identification and tracking, persistence and bioaccumulation in the soil and risks to and effects on human health and soil health. The second chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the pathways through which antibiotics reach the soil, the processes that influence their fate within the soil and the techniques and efforts used to predict their behaviour and fate. The chapter also offers insights from specific case studies and discusses future research directions to address environmental challenges. The third chapter addresses the risks associated with using treated wastewater in irrigation systems for crop production, including an elevation in soil water osmotic pressure, the addition of toxic ions and organic contaminants to the soil and the deterioration of the physical and hydraulic properties of soil. The final chapter reviews the impact of heavy metal contamination on soil health, focussing on its effects on soil biogeochemical processes, nutrient cycling and soil functions in crop production, environmental quality and food security. The chapter also discusses common indicators of soil contamination and remediation techniques.