Desertification

noun (uncountable)

/dɪˌzɜː.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/

The process by which fertile or semi-arid land becomes increasingly arid and unproductive, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, overgrazing, or inappropriate agricultural practices, leading to the loss of topsoil and vegetation cover.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Decades of monoculture, aquifer depletion and the retreat of green cover have accelerated desertification across India's drylands, making the restoration of degraded land a central pillar of the country's climate-resilience and food-security strategy.

Synonyms

land degradationdesiccationaridificationsoil erosiondenudationdryland degradation

Antonyms

afforestationreforestationland reclamationgreening

🌱 Word Family

desertify (v), desertified (adj), desert (n/v/adj), desertisation (n)

🔡 Root

Latin dēsertum = uninhabited place + -ficātiōnem = a making (from facere = to make)

📜 Etymology

From English desert (from Latin dēsertum, "an uninhabited place") + -ification (from Latin -ficātiōnem, "a making"); the term was coined in the 1970s in the context of the Sahel drought.

🧠 Memory Hook

Desert + -ification = "the making of a desert" — picture once-fertile fields literally turning into sand.

⚠️ Disaster Management 📖 Seen in: Floods, Droughts & Cyclones — India's ...

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