A Study of Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Adoption of Farm Level Soil and Water Conservation Practices in the Riverine Areas of North Bank Plains Zone of Assam

Soil and water are two very scarce important natural resources without which crop production is not possible. Soil degradation due to erosion and the depletion of ground water resources are the two major environmental problems threatening agricultural production and productivity in the riverine belt of Assam. The riverine belt is spread over as the alluvial land forms on the recent flood plain of the river Brahmaputra and its perennial tributaries. These are the riverine land forms and river islands that are periodically formed and eroded due to meandering, braiding and the changing course of the rivers. These land situations are locally known as 'Char land' or 'Chapari' in Assam. Soils are formed on the riverine alluvium deposits brought down from the adjacent Assam Himalayas by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Soils are therefore stratified in nature and the soil textures vary with depth and the top layer of the soil (30-90 cm thickness) has a sandy or silty loam texture which is underlined by thick layers of relatively coarse sands. The profile development is therefore poor and belongs to the order 'entisoP and is subjected to soil erosion due to various reasons.