The use of Cesium-137 (137Cs) as a potential environmental marker was examined for estimating soil erosion induced carbon losses on slopping agricultural land. Depth-wise incremental soil samples were taken from uneroded reference sites and four levels of cultivated slopping lands representing different erosion phase in Doon valley region of India.

Soil degradation in all its nefarious forms has serious repercussions on crop and biomass productivity. Assessment of soil loss tolerance limits (SLTLs) (permissible soil loss) serves as a tool to gauge the potential erosion risk in given area with regard to long term sustainability.

Although soils are generally considered to wet readily, some are actually water-repellent at the surface. This communication presents the recent progress in relating the severity of water repellency to different soil management practices and land uses under the lower Himalayan region of India.