The Environmentalist, 23, 219–227, 2003 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands.

Desertification Control and Management of Land Degradationin the Thar Desert of India

SURENDRA SINGH CHAUHANDepartment of Environmental Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302004, India

Summary. India has 2.34 million km2 of hot desert called Thar located in the north-western part of Rajasthanbetween latitudes 23◦3′ and 30◦12′ North and longitudes 63◦30′ and 70◦18′ East. The Indian desert is spreadingannually over 12000 ha of productive land degrading it and slowly advancing towards the national capital NewDelhi at the rate of 0.5 km per year. The Indian desert is characterised by huge shifting sand dunes; high windspeed; scarce rainfall; and intense solar radiation. Tremendous efforts have been made since the 1960s to arrestdesertification and for ecological restoration of the Thar desert. An Ambitious afforestation programme including‘stabilisation of shifting sand dunes’ and creation of ‘micro-climates’ through ‘tree-screens’ and ‘shelter-belt’plantation was launched by the forest department of Rajasthan. A huge canal, 649 km long was also introduced tothe Thar desert for ecological restoration.

Keywords: Thar desert, stabilisation, micro-climates, ecological regeneration, desertification control

Introduction

In India there is about 2.34 million km2 of hot desertcalled “Thar”. It represents one of the most inhos-pitable arid zones of world spreading mostly throughwestern Rajasthan, Gujrat, South-Western Punjab,Harayana and part of Karnataka. Eighty five percentof the great Indian desert lies in India and the rest inPakistan. Ninety one percent of the desert i.e. 2.08 ml.km2 area falls in Rajasthan covering about 61 percentof the geographical area of the state. The Aravali hills,older than the Himalayas, intersect the state nearlynortheast and on the west lies the great Indian desert.

The Indian desert is characterized by high velocitywind; huge shifting and rolling sand dunes; high diur-nal variation of temperature; scarce rainfall; intensesolar radiation and high rate of evaporation. Thardesert receives between 100 to 500 mm of rainfall an-nually, 90 percent of which is received between Julyto September (cf. Table 2).

The sandy soil of the desert has rapid infiltrationrate of water, rapid oxidation and high salinity. Allconditions are very hostile for existence of life and yet

large human and livestock population inhabit the area.The Indian desert is highly fragile with poor primaryproducers due to scarcity of water and growing de-mand of food, fodder and fuel wood, but large liabili-ties i.e. the consumers causing severe impediments inits ecological regeneration and desertification controlefforts.

Archeological evidence suggest that the region wasonce a flourishing green countryside with thick forestand well knit system of rivers of which “Saraswati”and “Yamuna” were main (Vishnu-Mittre, 1976). Epi-

Table 1.

S. No. Degree Area in Percentage ofof desertification sq. kms of total area

hazards Western Rajasthan

1. Slight 827 00.802. Moderate 133220 63.653. Severe 74440 36.27Total Area of Western Rajasthan 208487 100.00

Source: T.S. Chauhan (ed.), Indian Desert (1995).

220 Chauhan

Figure 1.

Figure 2. Location map of Thar desert.

Table 2. Climatic conditions of Thar desert

1. Rainfall 450 mm(Mean annualJuly–September)

2. TemperatureMax. Av. Min. Av. Highest Lowest40◦–42◦C 4.7◦–10.2◦C 50◦C −5.9◦C(May–June) (January) (June 1934) (January 1967)

3. Wind velocitySummer Winter Maximum20–30 km/hour 4–10 km/hour 150 km/hour

4. Evaporation rateSummer Winter Annual13 mm/day 3 mm/day 250 cm

Desertification Control and Management of Land Degradation 221

Table 3. Mean annual irrigation water requirement, mean annual rainfall, mean potential, evaporation-spiration and mean aridity index in the Districts of the Arid Land of Rajasthan

Districts Mean annual Mean annual Mean potential Mean aridity Area underirrigation water rain fall in evaporation- index arid land in

requirement (mm) spiration in (mm) sq. kmsin (mm)

Barmer 1,266 259.7 1858 −84.3 28172Bikaner 1,246 297.4 1771 −83.1 27369Churu 1,144 368.1 1678 −76.7 16860Ganganagar 1,176 247.9 1662 −85.8 20638Jaisalmer 1,365 188.9 2063 −90.7 38834Jalore 1,605 387.6 1561 −76.8 10564Jhunjhunu 1,023 397.2 1552 −74.9 5923Jodhpur 1,172 372.9 1843 −79.8 22644Nagaur 1,063 332.6 1641 −80.0 17644Pali 1,026 424.4 1650 −75.1 12224Sikar 977 429.9 1503 −68.7 7749

Source: T.S. Chauhan (ed.), Indian Desert (1995).

graphic evidence by Landsat Satellites Imagery alsoconfirms it. The onslaught of man and his do-mestic animals on the local ecosystem changed thepanorama of the region from a land of plenty to theland of poverty in less than 5000 years. The arte-facts discovered in the Pushkar and Luni basin ofRajasthan are a clear testimony to prove that an-cient man lived here as early as 5000 B.C. Per-haps, the over-exploitation of land and water re-sources since the earliest times has made Rajasthandesert as a man-maintained if not man-made (Wadia,1960).

The word desert gives the impression of a vast,tree-less, undulating expanse of sand. The great In-dian desert “Thar” does not conform to this popu-lar notion. The desert is not an endless stretch ofsand dunes, bereft of life or vegetation. During cer-tain periods it blooms with a colourful range of treesand grasses and abound in an amazing variety of birdand animal life i.e. Choriotes nigriceps, Francoli-nus pondicerianus, Pavo cristatus; Pterocles orien-talis, Chalamydotis undulata, C. undulata macqueeni,Sypheotides indica, Grus Grus, etc. are bird speciesand animal species like Gazella gazella, Felis lybica,Vulpes pusilla, Canis aureus, Canis lupus, Lepus ni-gricollis, etc. are quite common in the Thar desert.Thar desert is highly “generic” for it become lushgreen on a slightest precipitation. The soil is full ofdormant seeds of various species, which sprout withlittle moisture.

Some eco-restoration programmes undertaken inthe Thar desert

India after independence paid much attention to deser-tification control and ecological restoration of the Thardesert and with this view a water canal called IndiraGandhi Canal was constructed to bring the Himalayanwaters to the desert region. The IG Canal, 649 kmlong, has a capacity of 524 cum of water/sec. Withthe coming of the canal water the entire scenario of theThar desert is changing fast. The “desert ecosystem”appears to be transforming into an “ever-green” forestecosystem in the Command Area of the canal (Sinha,1993). Ecological restoration and regeneration of theThar desert for sustainable development was initiatedin May 1970. The programme involved:

(i) Rehabilitation of forests on hills (12,500 ha);(ii) Grassland development for fodder banks

(2,000 ha);(iii) Development of pastures (6,000 ha);(iv) Reclamation of saline soils (3,000 ha); and(v) Wind break plantations (5,000 km of rows).

The scheme for the rehabilitation of forests onhills has covered a considerable area with Acaciasenegal, Anogeissus pendula and bushes to protectagainst grazing and browsing. The trees are now re-established and the ground is covered with grasses andbushes. The resulting scrub forest has provided fuelwood (from dead and dry fallen wood) as well as grass

222 Chauhan

and grazing facilities. On a rotation of 40 years, eachhectare will yield 20000 kg of fuel wood. In addition,200 kg of fodder grass is made available annually fromthe fifth year.

The programme for the reclamation of saline soilswas intended to convert these lands into productivelands for cultivation by planting salt resistant plantspecies. Prosopis juliflora and Acacia nilotica are nowfairly well established. Wind breaks in multiple rowsof suitable tree species of Prosopis juliflora, Acaciatortilis, Azadirachta indica and Albizzia lebbeck arebeing planted along all important roads, railway linesand around tube wells.

In Jaisalmer district, schemes have been launchedfor the cultivation of green fodder over 200 hectares,pasture development over 3,000 hectares and the rais-ing of one hundred wood lots and nurseries. Inves-tigations have confirmed the existence of aquifers,which have the potential of an average discharge of150,000 liters per hour. Exploitation of this ground-water is expected to help extensive agriculture, horti-culture and silviculture in this area. The Governmentof Rajasthan had undertaken a pilot project for fodderproduction on 300 hectares and pasture developmenton 750 hectares.

Strategies towards desertification control in theThar desert

Desert Afforestation Research Station to Control de-sertification was set up in Jodhpur in 1952. The stateforest department made a humble beginning towardsdesertification control in 1958 by taking up afforesta-tion in the Command Areas of IG canal in Ganganagardistrict. The major afforestation programmes imple-mented as were “sand dune fixation work”, “silvipas-toral plantations”, “village fodder and fuel wood plan-tation”, “shelterbelt plantation”, “ecological regenera-tion, restoration and rehabilitation of degraded desertlands”, “afforestation on barren hills, re-seeding of oldpastures and farm forestry”.

An ambitious afforestation programme throughcreation of micro-climates is also underway in IGCanal Command Area in desert regions of Bikaner,Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. An ecological Task Force ofthe Territorial Indian Army has been carrying out thisafforestation drive since 1983. The following strate-gies have yielded good results in desertification con-trol:

A. Introduction of fast growing exotic tree species

The indigenous tree species growing in the Thar desertare not only few in number but are also extremelyslow growing. Therefore, greater attention was fo-cused on the introduction and selection of fast grow-ing exotic tree and shrub species from isoclimatic re-gions of the world. In this effort about 115 Euca-lyptus species, 73 Acacia species and 170 miscella-neous ones from various countries including Maxico,U.S.A., Latin America, former USSR, Africa, Israel,Arizona, Peru, Kenya, Australia, Chile, Sudan, Zim-babwe and the Middle East were introduced. Aca-cia tortilis an exotic from Israel for sand dune stabi-lization, Prosopis juliflora, suitable for fast biomassproduction, Acacia nubica for sand dune stabilization,Colophospermum mopane and Dichrostachys glomer-ata for fodder purpose and Eucalyptus cameldulensisare few exotics suited for low rainfall area. A numberof exotic tree species like Eucalyptus cameldulensis,E. melanophloia, Acacia tortilis, A. cillata, A. raddi-ana, A. senegal, A. sieberiana, A. aneura, A. salicina,Colophospermum mopane, Dichrostachys glomerata,Brasiletta millis, Schinus molis and Prosopis juliflorahave emerged very promising for the Indian desert.Of all the exotic species tried, “Acacia tortilis” fromIsrael has been adjudged the best “fuel-cum-fodderspecies” for our desert. Since its introduction, it hasfound a “niche” not only in Rajasthan desert but alsoin other states of India. Acacia tortilis, which haveshown performance in growth and survival, equal toor better than, the indigenous Acacia senegal are verypromising (Muthana and Arora, 1993). However thedesert dwellers are not happy. They want Acacia sene-gal to be planted on large scale, as it is of great socio-economic value for them. Besides yielding fodder andfuel it also gives a valuable “gum resin”. They arealso somehow linked with the food chain of the greatIndian majestic bird (Choriotes nigriceps) of the Thardesert which are declining and threatened with extinc-tion.

B. Stabilization of shifting sand dunes

In low-rainfall areas (150 to 400 mm per annum), hugeshifting sand dunes are commonly found particularlynear human habitations. Techniques of afforesting theshifting dunes were standardized after 10 years of ex-perimentation. These techniques consist of—(i) pro-tection against biotic interferences; (ii) treatment of

Desertification Control and Management of Land Degradation 223

shifting sand dunes (by fixing barriers in parallel stripsor in a “chess-board” design, using the local shrub)material starting from the crest down to the hell ofthe dunes to protect the seedlings from burial or ex-posure by the blowing of sand; (iii) afforestation ofsuch treated dunes by direct seeding and planting. Thetwo species commonly used for erecting “brush-woodbarriers” (micro windbreaks) are Zizyphus nummula-ria and Crotalaria burhia (Kavia and Harsh, 1993).

The indigenous and exotic species which haveproved successful in sand dune stabilization are:trees—Acacia senegal, Prosopis juliflora, Albizzialebbeck, Cordia rothii, Dalbergia sissoo (in regionswith mean annual rainfall of 250 mm) and Zizyphusjujuba; shrubs—Calligonum polygonoides, Cassiaauriculata, Ricinus communis and Zizyphus nummu-laria; grasses—Lasiurus sindicus, Panicum turgidumand Erianthus munia. Among exotic species, Eu-calyptus oleosa (Australia), Acacia tortilis (Israel),Parkinsonia aculeata and Acacia victoriae (Australia),Acacia albida (Middle East) were found to be verypromising, especially, as these species were found tobe frost resistant and these fast growing species arealso suitable for low rain fall and provides fodder andfuel wood, etc. to the desert people. Acacia albidawere used to stabilize 60,000 hectares of sand dunesin the Thar desert (Anonymous, 1988).

Calligonum polygonoides is a very useful speciesof the Thar desert. It is a naturally growing shrub onthe sand dunes. It has a massive network of under-ground roots, which works as effective “sand binders”.Other species occurring on sand dunes are Aervapsuedotomentosa, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Citrulluscolocynthis, Lasiurus sindicus, Calotropis procera,etc. Other suitable species for planting on sand dunesare Colophospermum mopane and Prosopis cinerariabecause these species are adapted to grow in the areaswhere rainfall is less than 400 mm. These are highlydrought resistant species and provides fodder and fuelwood to the desert people.

C. Shelterbelt plantations to reduce wind velocity

Shelterbelts and tree-screens consisting of a row oftrees viz. Acacia tortilis, Tamarix articulata andAzadirachta indica flanked by two rows (one on eachside) of smaller trees like Acacia senegal, with tworows (one on each side) of shrubs like Aerva tomen-tosa, Zizyphus spinachristi, Calligonum polygonoides

were found to be very effective for Thar desert.In Bikaner region rows of Eucalyptus cameldulensisand Dalbergia sissoo have also worked as effectiveshelterbelts and treescreens for creation of ‘micro-climates’ (Sinha, 1993). Shelterbelts reduced the windvelocity by 20–46 percent on the leeward side upto2H to 10H range during monsoon period (H—heightof shelterbelt) (Gupta et al., 1984). Soil loss was alsoconsiderably reduced.

Maximum soil loss (Table 4) was observed from abare field without shelterbelts followed by shelteredfield with Prosopis juliflora, or Acacia tortilis or Cas-sia siamea showing thereby the effectiveness of shel-terbelts, in checking soil erosion due to wind. The useof shelterbelts in general, brought about 50% reduc-tion in wind erosion. Cassia siamea type shelterbelts,however, was found to be most effective, in conserv-ing soil during both the years of study. This could bedue to thicker branching and more leafiness and, there-fore, lesser air permeability provided by this shelter-belt. Higher amount of soil loss was observed dur-ing the year 1990 as compared to 1989 due to morenumber of windy days. The total nutrients loss wasalso found to be maximum from a bare soil withoutshelterbelt followed by shelterbelts with P. juliflora,A. tortilis and C. siamea showing, thereby the conser-vation in soil fertility by the shelterbelts in general andC. siamea type shelterbelt in particular.

Rajasthan State Forest Department has so far cov-ered about 38,000 row km area under shelterbelt, roadside, railway line and canal side plantations since1960 by adopting the technology developed at Cen-tral Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur(Kaul, 1969).

D. Ecological restoration through aerial seeding

Aerial seeding of seed pellets of Cenchrus ciliaris,Acacia tortilis and Colophospermum mopane wasdone in 56 hectare of military range areas in Barmerdistrict of Rajasthan at two sites i.e., duny sandy plainof Jalipa and rocky hill ranges of Jasai village. Pro-gramme was undertaken in collaboration with mili-tary personnels. Two methods of seeding i.e. seed-ing by helicopter and manual broadcasting of pelletswere used. Data on establishment and growth wererecorded twice, i.e. at sowing and maturity stages.The manual broadcasting of pellets was found bet-ter than aerial seeding by helicopter. Under con-

224 Chauhan

Table 4. Effect of different types of shelterbelts on soil erosion and nutrients loss due to wind

Type of shelter- Total amount of soil Nutrients loss to wind erosionbelts loss (kg/ha) (g/ha)

N P K

1989 1990 Mean 1989 1990 Mean 1989 1990 Mean 1989 1990 Mean

(20th April to 26th June)

Prosopis juliflora 93.2 609.3 351.2 32.6 213.3 123.0 17.2 112.7 65.0 177.1 1157.7 667.4Cassia siamea 91.5 277.1 184.3 32.0 97.0 64.5 17.0 51.3 34.1 174.0 526.5 350.2Acacia tortilis 106.0 494.1 300.0 37.1 173.0 105.0 19.6 91.4 55.5 201.2 938.8 570.0Bare (without 262.7 831.0 546.8 92.0 290.8 191.4 48.6 153.7 101.2 499.1 1579.0 1039.0shelterbelts)

Source: R.K. Sinha, Desertification Control Bulletin, UNEP (1993).

trolled conditions as Jasai area, the plant populationat sandy and rocky area were 6 and 3 individualsper square meter respectively. The controlled siteswere seeded manually (Anonymous, 1995). Aerialseeding was also done in Bikaner on the left bankof 1 G. Canal in Sardarpura (300 ha) and Motigarh(400 ha). The seed mixture consisted of seeds of Aca-cia tortilis, Colophospermum mopane, Dichrostachysnutans, Prosopis cineraria, Zizyphus rotandifolia, Cit-rullus colocynthis and Lasiurus sindicus at the rate of14 kg/ha. A. tortilis recorded highest germination andseedling density followed by C. colocynthis (Anony-mous, 1995).

E. Management of desert wastelands

Two mined wastelands, one of gypsum and the otherof limestone were selected for ecological regenera-tion. Four plots of one hectare each were demar-cated to have four treatments, i.e., control, develop-ment of micro-catchment area, half moon structure de-velopment and ridge and furrow system, so that theplanting pits (60 cm) may receive additional rain wa-ter as runoff. Seven indigenous and exotic speciesof trees and four of shrub were selected for planta-tion. In general 5 m × 5 m spacing in plant to plantand row to row was adopted. Plant species includedSalvadora oleoides, Salvadora persica, Acacia tor-tilis, Azadirachta indica, Prosopis juliflora, Tamarixarticulata, Pithecelobium dulca, Dichrostachys nu-tan, Cassia stnitii, Cercidium floridun and Caesalpin-nea ceraria (Anonymous, 1995). The rooted slips ofgrasses like Cenchrus ciliaris, C. setigerus and Cym-bopogon jwarancusa were also transplanted as singlerow in the ridge and furrow system. 1.5 hectare ofmining muck heaps and the rocky substrata were usedfor plantation. The muck heaps were reshaped to cre-

ate slope and inverted terraces for rainwater harvest-ing. At the rocky site “half-moon” structures weredeveloped with 3 m and 5 m spacing. More than90 percent plants survived. Live hedges and biofencesof Prosopis juliflora were raised at both the site with1 × 1 m spacing to protect the plantation.

F. Ecological regeneration and restoration throughfencing and enclosures

Thar desert land shows tremendous resilience for re-generation when it is protected by fences and enclo-sures for certain period of time. A chain of longterm enclosure have been established by Central AridZone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur and stateforest department on a variety of desert habitats suchas hills, rocky gravelly pediments, flat burried ped-iments, sandy undulating pediments, flat aggradedolder alluvial plains, sand dunes and shallow salinedepressions (see Tables 5 and 6). The recommendedduration of protection is from 5 to 20 years. There isgood growth of vegetation both trees and grasses uponprotection. Desertification is completely arrested insuch regions.

G. Silvipasture development for desertificationcontrol

Growing trees and grasses together has been a tradi-tional practice in the Thar desert. It is being revivedon large scale for desertification control. Among ninetree species tried, Acacia tortilis showed survival of98 percent (after 5 years) followed by Dichanthiumnutans (88 percent), Acacia senegal (83 percent)and Acacia indica (65 percent), whereas Prosopiscineraria and Albizzia lebbeck showed only 5 to

Desertification Control and Management of Land Degradation 225

Table 5. Time limits of natural regeneration of various degraded lands of Thar desert

District Rainfall Desert habitats Soil Duration of Grass over(mm) texture protection

(in years)

Pali 450 Hill Gravelly 10 Chrysopogon fulvusJodhpur 250 Hill (top) Gravelly 20 Aristida, DropstiumJodhpur 250 Hill (slope) Gravelly 20 Aristida depressaJodhpur 250 Hill (base) Gravelly 18 Eleusine compressaJodhpur 250 Flat-buried loamy Loamy 18 Dichanthium,

pediments CenchrusPali 450 Loamy pediments Loamy 20 Ermopogon,

AristidaBikaner 450 Loamy pediments Loamy 20 Cenchrus, AristidaJaisalmer 150 Sandy undulating Sandy 18 Lasiurus sindicus

buried pedimentsPali 150 Flat aggraded older Clay loam 18 Cenchrus spp.,

alluvial plain ZizyphusSirohi 450 Flat aggraded older Clay loam 18 Dichanthium

alluvial plain annulatumAcacia nilotica

Barmer 200 Sandy undulating Sandy 18 Cenchrus spp.aggraded olderalluvial plain

Bikaner 250 Sandy undulating Sandy 20 Lasiurus sindicusaggraded older Cymbopogon,alluvial plain Cenchrus

Sikar 450 Sandy undulating Sandy 18 CenchrusBikaner 250 Sand dune (slope) Sandy 20 Aristida, CenchrusBikaner 250 Sand dune (slope) Sandy 20 AristidaBikaner 250 Sand dune (base) Sandy 20 Panicum antidotaleJodhpur 250 Shallow Clay loam 20 Sporobolus marginatus

Source: K.A. Shankaranarayan in I. Prakash (ed.), Desert Ecology (1988).

10 percent survival. Hardwickia binata, Colophos-permum mopane and Zizyphus nummularia showed28 to 35 percent survival. Maximum height wasrecorded in case of A. tortilis (290.54 cm) followedby A. indica (239.66 cm) and A. senegal (175.24 cm)and lowest in P. cineraria (77 cm). Collar diame-ter recorded in A. tortilis, A. indica and A. senegalwas 8.21, 6.88 and 4.46 cm, respectively. Dry for-age yield of Cenchrus setigerus in the interspaces be-tween the trees was 2020 kg/ha in the plots of A. tor-tilis and 2500 kg/ha in A. indica. Dry forage yieldof grass under other tree species ranged from 2750to 2980 kg/ha as against 3000 kg/ha under pure pas-ture without trees. Cenchrus ciliaris (CAZRI-75) andCenchrus setigerus (CAZRI-175) were sown betweenrows of neem (Azadirachta indica), subabool (Leu-caena leucocephala) and Israeli babool (Acacia tor-tilis) planted in 1988 at 5 m×5 m spacing. The growthof trees were reduced, but growth of grasses were bet-ter under the system. The fodder yield was more under

Azadirachta indica as compared to grass under Leu-caena leucocephala and Acacia tortilis (Anonymous,1993).

Acacia leucophloea, A. auriculiformis, A. nilot-ica, A. senegal, A. tortilis, Albizzia lebbeck, Cassiasiamea, Dalbergia sissoo, Derris indica, Parkinsoniaaculeata, Prosopis cineraria and P. chilensis are someimportant multipurpose nitrogen fixing trees recom-mended for silvipasture and rangeland development inthe Thar desert (Sivaji et al., 1993). Under the range-land development scheme controlled and rotationalgrazing has been introduced. Some of the areas havebeen reseeded with perennial and nutritive grasses likeCenchrus ciliaris, Cenchrus setigerus, Dichanthiumannulatum and Lasiurus sindicus. Significant achieve-ment has been made in the mass production of nutri-tive fodder “sewan grass” (Lasiurus sindicus) for thedesert livestock. This revolutionary grass besides con-tributing in the development of good rangeland in theThar desert has significantly helped in stabilizing the

226 Chauhan

Table 6. Time sequence of regeneration of various degraded landsof Thar desert

Desert habitats Duration Grass coverof enclosure

(in years)

Hills 7 Chroysopogon fulvus,Eremopogon foveolatus,Heteropogon controtus

Rocky/gravelly pediments 12 Eleusine compressaDactyloctenium sindicum

Rocky gravelly pediments 6 Eleusine compressawith contour bunding Dactyloctenium sindicum

Flat buried pediments 6 Dichanthium annulatum(high rainfall and heavysoils)

Sandy undulating buried 6 Lasiurus sindicusPediments (low rainfall) Panicum antidotale

Flat aggraded older 4 to 6 Lasiurus sindicusalluvial plains Panicum antidotale

Sand dunes 18 Panicum turgidumCenchrus prieurii

Shallow saline 6 Sporobolus marginatusdepressions Dichanthium annulatum

Source: Shankaranarayan, K.A. in I. Prakash (ed.), Desert Ecology(1988).

Table 7. Yield of forage (kg/ha) under different tree species

Tree species Cenchrus Cenchrusciliaris setigerus

Control (without any tree) 2570 2100Azadirachta indica 4350 3430Leucaena leucocephala 3100 2570Acacia tortilis 2720 2950

blowing sand dunes and expansion of the desert (Sinhaet al., 1999).

Desertification control and ecological regenerationthrough the creation of micro-climates

The main strategy of desertification control in the Thardesert is through the creation of “micro-climates” byplanting of shelter-belts and wind breaks to reducethe hazards of dry hot wind and blowing sand dunes.For this purpose fast growing Eucalyptus trees havebeen utilized with great success. With the availabil-ity of canal water, thick rows of Eucalyptus trees havebeen grown in selected pockets and the area within the

Eucalyptus micro-climate has been developed for thepurpose of further afforestation by adapted species ofeconomically important trees. Several micro-climaticzones have been converted into agricultural farms af-ter treatment of the soil by animal manure and com-post over successive years. Wheat, sorghum, ground-nut, lemon, kino, malta, guava, ber and cotton arcbeing raised with great success in the micro-climates(Sinha, 1993). The trees planted within the microcli-mates, are Albizzia lebbeck, Acacia senegal, Acacianilotica, Acacia tortilis, and the desert timber trees,Tecomella undulata and Ailanthus excelsa, the revo-lutionary fuel wood plant Leucaena leucocephala andthe multipurpose tree Prosopis cineraria known as the“tree of eternity” to the desert people. Dalbergia sis-soo and Azadirachta indica have also been planted ona large scale with great success. Such pockets of “manmade forests” with deer and black buck frequentlydot the barren desert along the I.G. Canal which haslargely helped in arresting the evils of desertificationas well as assisting in ecological regeneration of thedesert (Sinha, 1993).

Conclusions

The Thar desert of India is unique in world as it ishighly ‘generic’, rich in biodiversity and support ahuge population of humans and livestock. There aresome native species of herbs with tremendous medic-inal value and grasses of rich forage value. There arealso some ‘famine food’ plants. Geological evidencesuggests that the region was once a flourishing greencountryside with thick forest and well knit systems ofrivers. The onslaught of man and his companion onthe local ecosystem changed the panorma of the re-gion from a land of plenty to the land of poverty inless than 5000 years.

Tremendous efforts have been made in India sincethe 1960s to arrest desertification and towards eco-logical restoration of the Thar desert ecosystem. Anambitious afforestation program was launched by theforest department of Rajasthan with the help of terri-torial Indian army. A huge man-made canal, 649 kmlong was build which bring the sweet Himalayan wa-ters to the thirsty desert of Rajasthan. The strategyof afforestation included the ‘stabilization of shiftingsand dunes’ and creation of ‘micro-climates’ through‘tree-screens’ and ‘shelter-belt’ plantations and forthis some fast growing exotic species from Australia,

Desertification Control and Management of Land Degradation 227

Philippines and Israel were used. These were Eu-calyptus cameldulensis, Lucaena leucocephala andAcacia tortilis. The native sand binder species likecalligonum polygonoides and Lasiurus sindicus wereregenerated through protection. Within the micro-climate zones agriculture and horticulture is also be-ing practiced on large scale.

Fuel wood and fodder production in the Thar deserthas a positive impact on arresting desertification andecological regeneration. It is due to over-exploitationof fodder and fuel wood—the two basic necessities oflife for the desert people, which is causing ecologi-cal destruction of the desert ecosystem and enhanc-ing desertification. The degraded lands of the Thardesert shows tremendous resilience for regenerationwhen the sphere of influence of biotic factor is re-moved. This is evidenced in the form of triggeringoff a progressive ecological succession in grass cover,tree/shrub cover that quickly attains a stage of sustain-able utilization.

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