Natural resources (land, water, biodiversity and genetic resources, biomass resources, forests, livestock and fisheries) - the very foundation of human survival, progress and prosperity, have been degrading fast, and the unprecedented pace of their erosion is one of the root causes of the agrarian crisis that the country is facing. The demographic and socio-economic pressures notwithstanding, the unmindful agricultural intensification, over use of marginal lands, imbalanced use of fertilizers, organic matter depletion and deteriorating soil health, extensive diversion of prime agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses, misuse and inefficient use of irrigation water, depleting aquifers, salanisation of fertile lands and water logging, deforestation, biodiversity loss and genetic erosion, and climate change are the main underlying causes.