Bhaskar Ground Report: In Jharkhand, the fertile layer of the fields is ending, thousands of acres of land have been dug by the mafia

Mother Earth’s chest is being pierced in Jharkhand. 54.80 lakh hectares of land is becoming barren. During Dainik Bhaskar’s investigation in 24 districts of the state, it came to the fore that the top and fertile layer of 15 cm of agricultural land has been lost. Without water management, this layer got washed away with rain water in drains and rivers. The mafia is keeping an eye on the land which is left out of agriculture. The stone mafia has dug up the land after illegal mining in thousands of acres.

System responsible for wasting land wealth
1. Fertile layer covered with rain, 69% land barren
According to ISRO, the barren land is continuously increasing in Jharkhand. Due to lack of water management, the rain is taking away the fertile layer with it. Due to this the desert is increasing. 69% of the land has become barren. The condition of land wealth in Jharkhand is pathetic. The fertile layer of the fields is ending, thousands of acres of land have been dug by the mafia.

2. Pesticides reduce nutrients, weaken immunity
80% of the soil has become acidic. In this, 50% of manganese and calcium have been exhausted. Due to their decrease, our immunity is also decreasing. This is a result of adopting wrong crop rotation, but farmers are not being trained.

3. Mafia dug thousands of acres of land and left
The stone mafia has hollowed out thousands of acres of land after illegal mining. They are also occupying the land of the ryots-farmers. The administration has failed to curb illegal mining.

Know how our soil is slipping out of hand?

Thousands of acres of land hollowed out, no one to stop illegal mining

forest fire for the ground
Liquor mafia is setting fire in the middle of Chakulia forest of Jamshedpur. So that, their furnaces can be set up and the dry wood can be used for burning for making wine. Mafia has destroyed the forest in 20-25 acres.

The nutrients of the soil are decreasing rapidly, due to this the immunity also decreased.
It takes 1,000 years for a single layer of soil to form. The topmost surface of 15 cm is considered a layer, which is the most fertile. Without water management in Jharkhand, this layer got washed away in drains and rivers along with rain water. 80% of the soil of Jharkhand has become acidic. This is the reason that the soil which was absorbing water earlier, is now being washed away in the same water. We are passing through stubble fields. Paddy is wasted here.

Farmers are saying that the soil has deteriorated. The crop is not giving. Scientists have come and gone over the years with suggestions. Khunti was the model district of our investigation. Because most of the reasons for the land being barren were found here. Calcium-manganese, which makes the soil fertile and plant-crops capable of fighting diseases, has been lost up to 50%. Their deficiency is also affecting our body. Due to this, the patients of diabetes and heart have increased. People’s immunity is also decreasing.

Photojournalist Shubojit Ghoshal and senior reporter Kanhaiya Singh

15 cm. It took 1000 years to form a fertile layer, now 90 cm. till fertility ends
According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), desertification is increasing in Jharkhand. The quality of the land is deteriorating. About 67.97% of the land quality in the state was reported as poor in 2003-05, which increased to 68.98% in 2011-13. However, in the recent survey (2018-19), it has decreased marginally by .21%. Traveling across the state, we found that thrice more than the most fertile layer of 15 cm was depleted of nutrients. That is, the soil up to 90 cm has lost its fertility.

Farmers told that due to increasing acidic land, many problems are coming. The normal growth of plant roots suddenly stops. The amount of manganese and iron is increasing, due to which diseases are occurring in the plant. The solubility of phosphorus and molybdenum is reduced, plants are unable to get these elements. Phosphate solvating bacteria (PSBs) required for cultivation have been reduced by more than 90% in the soil. The chemical fertilizers are not decomposing due to the decomposition of PSBs.

No matter how much chemical fertilizers are being applied in acidic soil, the crop is not getting done. Atma officials in several districts said that the pH (power of hydrogen) value of the soil has come down from 6.5-7 to 4.5. The soil nutrients are decreasing due to erosion in the fields. NITI Aayog has also warned in a report that water management in Jharkhand is the weakest in the country. This has to be corrected, otherwise the state will lag behind in overall development if it lags behind in agriculture.
Coal mafia occupied the land, mining with big machines in broad daylight
Our investigation of Santalpargana division showed another side of the land. The stone mafia and mining mafia dominate here. Mines were allotted to several companies after the MoU at Shikaripada in Dumka. The ryots were asked to vacate the land by sending notices. Compensation for the said land will be given. The villagers protested. His slogan was that he will give life, but not land. The companies also started backing down on the protest. But the coal mafia has completely occupied the same land for which the villagers kept talking about laying down their lives. Illegal mining continues.

That too is not stealthy, it is happening during the day with bigger machines. According to the local people, it includes even white collars. At the same time, hundreds of acres of land are lying idle after mining stopped due to the exhaustion of coal in the open mines of Dhanbad and Bokaro. The ryots and other people of this land are still waiting for displacement. The government is looking for land in other places to displace them. According to mining experts, these mines and dumps can be filled and made for reuse. This may reduce displacement. Farming can also be done on this land. An example of this is Singrauli of Chhattisgarh. This successful experiment has been done in the coalfields here only in the 90s.

The facts revealed in the ground report, due to a cropping pattern, the field was spoiled, the youth wasted throughout the year
Soil is directly related to crops and crops to humans. If the calcium-manganese in the soil was reduced by 50%, then the same amount was reduced in the crops also. According to geologists, diabetes and heart patients are increasing due to this. Calcium-manganese balances it.