The following are the causes of soil degeneration
- Poor agricultural practices such as burning of land and over cultivation or monoculture cause soil to be deficient in some mineral nutrient leading to loss of soil fertility
- other human activities such as quarrying and construction of roads interfere with soil structure leading to sail degeneration
- soil erosion interfere with soil structure leading to loss of top fertile soil
- excessive drought leads to accumulation of salts in the topsoil making it saline
- leaching due to heavy rainfall can lead to percolation of soil nutrients to the lower horizons leading to deficiency of nutrients to the topsoil
- Excessive or wrong application of fertilizers may affect the soil PH making it acidic interfering with soil microorganisms.
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