Fertile soils and human civilisations are closely interlinked. Worldwide, 4-4.8 billion hectares out of 13.3 billion hectares are used for crop and pastures, and these areas need to be protected from various kinds of land degradation. Fertility degraded soils lead to diminished current and potential capability to provide quantitative and qualitative goods and services because of one or more soil fertility degradative processes. These include soil erosion, nutrient removal in produce, plant biomass removal, oxidation (also anthropogenic burning), reduction and leaching, acidification, sodification, and structural degradation. Consequently, soil fertility degradation leads to organic matter loss, nutrient depletion, decline in nutrient bioavailability, soil physical degradation and biological degradation. It is imperative to identify these processes and devise sustainable management options for fertility restoration in the context of soil fertility-health-productivity-ecosystem services.