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Soil erosion is one of the most critical environmental issues with severe consequences. Hence, it continues to be a significant limitation in the progress of many developing countries. Prediction and assessment of soil loss are, therefore, of utmost importance for soil fertility conservation, land and water management. Recent technological advances have provided useful models through which remotely-sensed data for a large scale area can be analysed and interpreted. The present study adopts a physiographically, biologically and climatically unique model for the assessment of soil erosion in the Indian Himalayan Region. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model was applied in conjunction with Geographic Information System to estimate the average annual rate of soil erosion at both state and district levels in India. The model was deployed using coarse resolution datasets to identify specific areas vulnerable to soil erosion. In determining the spatial distribution of average annual soil erosion within the study region, all cell-based parameters of the model were multiplied in the specified 500 m × 500 m spatial resolution. The spatial pattern of annual soil erosion indicates that maximum soil loss occurs in northern and eastern states whereas low rates of erosion is observed in the eastern-most part of the study area.

The use of bioplastics as a potential remedy for the problems caused by plastic pollution is gaining the attention of researchers and policy makers globally. Bioplastics are regarded as sustainable and valuable in several industries, particularly food packaging sector. In this context, the paper aims to evaluate the literature on bio-plastics research in India at the institutional level to determine correlations through a scientometric analysis. In doing so, a total of 1705 publications were extracted from the Web of Science database for the period between 2000 and 2021.The study results showed that sustainable plastics had gained the attention of the research community, with an upturn in publication from 2010 onwards. Furthermore, the study constructed a thematic map which indicates rising research trends in bioplastics are moving towards technologies for the food packaging sector. The study findings highlight the future research trend on bioplastics and provide meaningful information for sustainable food packaging in India.