Article Info Manuscript received: May, 2023 Revised manuscript accepted: September, 2023 Keywords: GIS, land use, RS, RUSLE, Sangli district, soil loss https://pub.isae.in Journal of Agricultural Engineering (India) Vol. 60 (3): July-September, 2023 https://doi.org/10.52151/jae2023603.1815 Estimation of Soil Loss using RUSLE, GIS, and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Sangli District, Maharashtra Pranjali D. Patil 1 , Nitin G. Patil 2 , Atul A. Atre 3 1 B. Tech Student, Sahyadri College of Agricultural Engineering, Yeshwantnagar, Karad; 2 Director, ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; 3 Professor, Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri. Author e-mail address: patilpranjali2212@gmail.com, ngpatil28@ gmail.com, atreatul@gmail.com ABSTRACT Accurate estimation of soil loss is essential for watershed managers and planners to identify the priority areas for soil and water conservation measures. This study was undertaken to estimate the average annual soil loss in the study area of Sangli district, Maharashtra by using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in conjunction with Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) data. The five potential factors of RUSLE impacting soil erosion were estimated through remote sensing data, enabling a comprehensive and informed assessment of soil erosion. The results of the analysis revealed that the average annual soil loss from the study area varied between 0 t.ha -1 .yr -1 and 202.10 t.ha -1 .yr -1 . Higher annual soil loss was estimated in the western part of the study area, which ranged from 15 t.ha -1 .yr -1 to 25 t.ha -1 .yr -1 as compared to other parts of the study area. The Sangali district, in general, can be categorised as a low erosion potential district (0-5 t.ha -1 .yr -1 ). The generated information can be utilised for the implementation of soil and water management and conservation measures in the western part of Sangli district, where there is a large area under the forest and agricultural land. Soil erosion is one of the major concerns of the 21 st century, and had also been an important topic from ancient time. According to archaeologist, soil erosion is one of the reasons for the collapse of great civilisations such as the Maya of Central America (Scholes and Scholes, 2013). Soil erosion, a worldwide crisis, results in the deterioration of agricultural land, causing the depletion of nutrient-rich topsoil, heightened runoff due to reduced subsoil permeability, and diminished water accessibility for plants (Ganasri and Ramesh, 2015). In India, 120.70 Mha (37% of land area) is affected by numerous forms of land deterioration, and water erosion is the prominent (68.4%) factor affecting land deterioration (Maji et al., 2010). Based on the harmonised database, the extent of area affected by soil erosion (soil loss of more than 10 t.ha -1 .yr -1 ) in the arable land of the country has been estimated as 92.4 Mha (Maji et al., 2010). An annual production loss of 13.4 Mt, amounting to a loss of ` 111.3 billion (US $2.51 billion) in monetary terms, due to water erosion from major rainfed crops in India has been estimated (Sharda et al., 2010). The country's average gross erosion rate has been estimated at 1,559 t.km -2 .yr -1 , equating to a total of 5.11 ± 0.4 Gt.yr -1 of eroded soil (Sharda and Ojasvi, 2016). This erosion results in the depletion of 5.37–8.40 Mt of plant nutrients, diminishes crop productivity, contributes to natural disasters such as floods and droughts, reduces reservoir capacity by 1-2% annually, and ultimately leads to the loss of biodiversity (Mandal et al., 2021). Maji et al. (2010) estimated that 8,799 ha of cultivated area is affected by soil erosion in Maharashtra. The amount of soil erosion per year in the Maharashtra State is 773.5 Mt, and 94% of that erosion is water-induced (Phadtare et al., 2020). Certainly, it is essential to precisely evaluate soil erosion caused by water erosion across 0256-6524/©2023 ISAE