Water retention in soil can be understood as the water retained by the soil after it runs through the soil pores to join water bodies such as groundwater or surface streams. Pores in the soil can be defined as the air-spaces that exist in between soil particles.
Water retention is mainly dependant on the particle size of the soil. The finer the soil particles, the higher the chance that water molecules shall hold on to soil particles, such as in clay, as opposed to sandy soil, that has large and coarse particles that are not cohesive.
The water retention by soil is critical for plants and acts as the chief source of moisture for it in almost all habitats. Other than percolation through the soil, soil moisture can also deplete due to evaporation directly from the soil and by transpiration by plants.
As based on the size of the soil particles, there are four classificatory systems for the identification of soils (J. Mariamma, 2010) –
- US Bureau of Soil Classification
- International Classification
- M.I.T Classification
- Indian Standard Classification
The Indian Standard classificatory system was formulated originally for the classification of soils primarily for engineering purposes. This is because the draft for soil classification was prepared by the Soil Engineering Sectional Committee and was approved by the Civil Engineering Division Council.
The final draft was adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards on December 19th, 1970. This system divides soils into three broad categories based on the properties of soil particles (Bureau of Indian Standards, 2004) –
i) Clay – the particles are microscopic to sub-microscopic and exhibit plasticity, allowing it to retain the most water.
ii) Silt – the particles are fine grains, but exhibit less plasticity, making this form retain lesser water.
iii) Sand and Gravel – aggregates of comparably larger particles that are coarse and loosely bound thus lacking cohesion. The least water retention is possible in this form of soil.
Different topographic and climactic patterns result in varied behaviour of soils and thus require a variety of approaches to analyze and implement soil management techniques for water retention. Soil can sometimes pose problems for not being as desired, and these problems can broadly be grouped under chemical and physical problems (National Agricultural University, NAU, 2013).
Chemical problems include high salinity or acidity in soils, along with the presence of other toxic chemicals such as phosphorous in soil (NAU, 2013). This problem becomes especially pertinent in agriculture where crop yield or productivity could dwindle due to chemicals used in the agricultural process such as pesticides and herbicides.
Among a large gamut of solutions and applications, the most common one is the use of ecologically beneficial green manure. Agricultural soil should also be frequently and properly drained to achieve effects such as the leaching of saline moisture in soils.
The physical problems can involve soil that is not able to contain much water due to lack of cohesion or due to a rigidity that can occur owing to encrustation, or a very clayey surface. Shallow depth of soil, soil that is too clayey, or the presence of hard opaque surfaces underneath can also present problems to water retention and there can be water-logging when too much water is added to soil.
These require artificial solutions to soil management that frequently involves the mixing of soil with other different forms of soil. Incorporating organic matter and regulating drainage are also frequently applied solutions.
There are various methods to enhancing the water retention capacity of soil. Some methods are more traditional, and also conventional, while some involve the utilization of technology. While most of technological investment regarding water retention in soils involves technologies for enumeration and generation of data, technological solutions can vary from simple, affordable, everyday solutions to solutions utilizing high-end technology.
Some of the simple solutions include application of organic solutions such as drought resistant crop varieties and organisms that increase the fertility of soil, management and design of irrigation according to soil properties, application of biochar – produced from biomass for low-cost carbon sequestration in soil – making soil less porous, use of the roots of plants that grip soil, and application of natural by-products such as poultry litter that provide greater cohesiveness to soil.
The solutions can also range towards using complex technologies such as mapping the global water cycle in relation to water retention in soil, and preparation of dietary fibres that have high water-holding capacity from food sources used in soil. There is however, a leaning in technological progress in engineering water retention in soil to introduce organic elements in the soil instead of inorganic matter.
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- In the Large States category (overall), Chhattisgarh ranks 1st, followed by Odisha and Telangana, whereas, towards the bottom are Maharashtra at 16th, Assam at 17th and Gujarat at 18th. Gujarat is one State that has seen startling performance ranking 5th in the PAI 2021 Index outperforming traditionally good performing States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but ranks last in terms of Delta
- In the Small States category (overall), Nagaland tops, followed by Mizoram and Tripura. Towards the tail end of the overall Delta ranking is Uttarakhand (9th), Arunachal Pradesh (10th) and Meghalaya (11th). Nagaland despite being a poor performer in the PAI 2021 Index has come out to be the top performer in Delta, similarly, Mizoram’s performance in Delta is also reflected in it’s ranking in the PAI 2021 Index
- In terms of Equity, in the Large States category, Chhattisgarh has the best Delta rate on Equity indicators, this is also reflected in the performance of Chhattisgarh in the Equity Pillar where it ranks 4th. Following Chhattisgarh is Odisha ranking 2nd in Delta-Equity ranking, but ranks 17th in the Equity Pillar of PAI 2021. Telangana ranks 3rd in Delta-Equity ranking even though it is not a top performer in this Pillar in the overall PAI 2021 Index. Jharkhand (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Assam (18th) rank at the bottom with Uttar Pradesh’s performance in line with the PAI 2021 Index
- Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 Key Development indicators.
- In the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu and, the bottom three performers are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram; and, the bottom three performers are Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya.
- Among the 60:40 division States, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; and, the bottom three performers are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
- Among the 60:40 division States, Goa, West Bengal and Delhi appear as the top three performers and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three performers and Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers
- West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were the top three States amongst the 60:40 division States; while Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan appeared as the bottom three performers
- In the case of 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura were the top three performers and Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand featured as the bottom three
- Among the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the bottom three performers are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland and the bottom three performers are Manipur and Assam
In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)