Water logging

♤ Definition: Saturation of soil with water resulting in a rise in the water table.

♤ Symptoms: Saline water envelops deep roots killing plants; lowers productivity; eventual destruction of plant life.

♤ Remediation: Switch to less water-demanding plants in areas susceptible to water logging; utilize conservationtillage farming; plant water logging-resistant trees with deep roots; take and out of production for a while; and/ or install pumping stations with drainage pipes that lead to catchment-evaporation basins.

♤ Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils and are easier to till than clay soils.

♤ If the topsoil is brown or black, it is rich in nitrogen and is good for crops. If the topsoil is gray, yellow, or red, it is low in organic matter and poor for crops.

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The Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) has launched a project to involve people in saving tigers and forests under its jurisdiction. Large-scale public participation is being sought from villagers around five protected areas — the Umred-Karhandla, Mansinghdeo, Tipeshwar, Painganga Wildlife Sanctuaries and the Bor TR. The project, an inititative of the Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation, includes sensitization of women’s self-help groups in 40 vulnerable villages around these PAs.