Methods for Assessment and Evaluation of Soil Ecosystem Services

The paper has assessed the land resources potential by conducting farm household survey of Nalatwad microwatershed located in Bijapur district of Maharashtra. Different economic evaluation methods were used to evaluate the land productivity potential and the associated environmental and economic losses in the microwatershed. The soil productivity analysis for sorghum has shown that for every 1-cm increase in soil depth, the yield increases by 0.035q/ha and gross returns by Rs 21/ha. For every one per cent increase in slope, sorghum yield decreased by 2.2 q/ha resulting in a decrease of Rs. 1320/ha in gross returns. The average annual soil-nutrient loss due to soil erosion at microwatershed was of 127 kg/ha. The application of fertilizers based on soil fertility status can avoid misapplication of nitrogen ( 169/ha), phosphorus ( 134/ha) and potash ( 142/ha) in sorghum. The farmers are willing to pay an average amount of 37 per sample to get information about soil fertility status of their farm. The study has argued that an investment of 20,49,411 in soil and water conservation can yield internal rate of returns of 14.2 per cent, indicating that the investment was economically-viable.