Inaugural Address at the Second annual Session of the Society on 28 December 1953

Abstract

 It is undoubtedly one of the most important gifts of nature to man and is literally the foundation not only of agri-culture but also of life itself. Till about a century ago, when land and forests began to be intensively exploited due to increase in population, the problem of controlling soil erosion was not a serious one. There was sufficient natural vegetation cover and soil was protected from factors which cause erosion. Today, the problem of arresting soil erosion is urgent and if not tackled immediately and with energy, would, in course of years, deprive the future genera-tions of the very basis of life. But some are likely to disbelieve such a statement on the ground that when nothing so disastrous has occurred through many generations, there is no reason why it should happen now. It is up to soil conservation specialists to con-vince the fanner that what has been built up by nature through thousands of years can be lost in a comparatively short time, if exploitation of land for producing the means of living is not accompanied by mea-sures to conserve soil. It will have to be explained to him that more the number of human beings and cattle which draw suste-nance from land, the faster the rate of deterioration and, therefore, greater the urgency of undertaking measures to prevent such deterioration. We have found that the easiest way of carrying the message of soil conservation to farmers is to demons-trate the benefits of such work by carrying it out in the fields of some farmers. He is convinced of the utility of the work by seeing the same with his own eyes.