Thursday, March 28, 2024
General Agriculture

Agronomic Measures to Control Soil Erosion

Soil management including soil erosion management practices are based on the following broad principles:

Those practices which help maintain soil infiltration rates at sufficiently moderate levels to reduce run-off to a safe amount.

Those practices which help the safe disposal of run-off water from the field.

Cultural practices which help maintain a high soil infiltration rate are essentially based on agronomic measures which maintain a mulch or vegetation cover on the soil, such as no-tillage or minimum tillage, stubble mulching, or the use of cover crops.

Tillage Practices as an Agronomic Measure to Control Soil Erosion

Soil Erosion
Soil Erosion

Beneficial Effects of Tillage;

  • Increased infiltration of rainfall.
  • Reduced surface run-off.

The no-tillage system has the advantage of moisture conservation in the soil profile and decreasing run-off and soil loss to a minimum.

In the no-tillage system the organic matter content of the surface horizon is also better maintained, as it is the water holding capacity of the soil.

Contour cultivation is to be generally recommended as one of the simplest and cheapest conservation measures.

Surface plant residues very effectively control erosion.

Tied-ridging is another effective practice in controlling erosion. This involves growing crops on ridges made approximately on the contour, adjacent ridges being joined at regular intervals, usually of 1.5 – 3.5m by barriers or ties slightly slopes with permeable soil of adequate depth in areas not subjected to high-intensity rainstorms, the series of basins so formed can hold the rainfall where it falls, allowing it to infiltrate into the soil and preventing run-off.

1. Minimum Tillage

Repeated ploughing and harrowing may break down the structure of some soils to such an extent that infiltration is drastically reduced. In most cases, this leads to an increase in soil erosion and decline in crop yields.

2. Mulching

Beneficial Effects of Mulching

Mulching with cut grass or other vegetable refuse prevents surface sealing by avoiding direct raindrops impact on the soil, and by encouraging enhanced biological activity which leads to the development of macro pores in the soil.

It is very effective in reducing run-off and erosion since it protect the ground from the impact of rains, slows down the movement of water over the surface, and improves the permeability of the soil.

Stubble mulching has similar effects to ordinary mulching. In this system, all or part of the crop residues and weeds is left on the surface of the soil as protective cover. This system involves shallow ploughing of the land after harvest, either leaving the stubble and weeds on the surface or partially burying them.

The greater the quantity of stubble and weeds left on a unit of land, the greater the effectiveness of the practice in reducing run-off and soil erosion.

3. Crop rotation

Growing wide-spaced row-tilled crops such as sorghum, maize, cotton, and sugarcane continuously for a few years makes the soil susceptible to erosion.

On the other hand, growing grasses or legumes protect the soil from erosion because these provide a complete ground cover while they are growing and also improve the soil structure and permeability.

To check or minimize the loss of soil it is therefore advisable to have close- spaced cereal crops such as wheat or finger millet and grasses or legumes, or grass-legumes mixtures in the rotation.

Read Also : Soil and Water Conservation Guide

4. Strip cropping

The purpose of strip cropping is the same as that of crop rotation, i.e. to minimize the loss of soil. In strip cropping, strips of erosion permitting crops are separated by strips of close-growing protective crops, in such a way that there are successive strips of wide-spaced, row-tilled crop such as sorghum or maize; a dense untilled crop, such as grasses or legumes and close-spaced crop receiving little or no cultivation after planting, such as finger millet. In succeeding seasons, these strips are rotated.

5. Cover crops

For effective erosion control, proper land use is imperative. The steepest slopes that are unsuitable for cultivation may be left under forest or permanent pastures; less steep land may be used for highly protective tree crops that provide a full canopy of foliage, such as cocoa, gentler slope may be planted with less protective tree crops such as coffee or citrus and grasses and arable crops may be planted on the gentlest slope.

These crops not only provide a protective cover, but also enhance rainfall infiltration by means of improving the organic matter content of the soil.

6. Soil conditioning

In order to prevent the breakdown of soil aggregates due to raindrop impact, their aggregate stability musty be improved.

Soil conditioning with bitumen emulsion, polyurethane, latex, asphalt, etc. minimizes aggregate destruction and helping to preserve a high infiltration capacity. Soil conditioners may be applied by incorporation or surface treatment.

7. Management

Crops and management practices which help produce an early ground cover are certainly more useful in controlling run-off and erosion than those which take longer for full canopy cover to develop.

Practices such as mixed cropping also affect ground cover. Soil erosion and run-off losses are relatively less from mixed crops than from sole crops. Plant population, time of planting and fertility level are important cultural practices which could be used to control erosion.

Measures to Control Wind Erosion

The measures aim principally at:

Maintaining more moisture in the soil;

Increasing surface roughness;

Reducing wind velocity.

To achieve these aims above, the following practices should be encouraged:

Minimum tillage;

Ridging at the right angles to the direction of prevailing wind;

Early planting;

Cropping in alternate strips;

Mulching and stubble mulching;

Planting of windbreaks at intervals across the path of the wind to slow its velocity and to cause the deposition of soil particles already in movement.

In summary, soil and water conservation is an integral part of sustainable crop production process.

This article emphasizes the various cultural practices such as tillage, cover cropping, crop rotation, strip cropping, mulching, terracing and contouring, ridging, and fallowing which if judiciously implemented could reduce surface run-off and erosion, increase water percolations, reduce evaporations and ensures adequate drainage.

In this article, the basic principles of soil water conservation measures of reducing run-off, percolation and evaporation losses were treated.

The various management practices of water conservation i.e. conservation of natural precipitation, drainage of wet lands and supplementation of rainfall with irrigation were discussed.

The role of cultural practices such as tillage practices, strip cropping, crop rotation, cover cropping and mulching in control of surface run-off and erosion were also discussed.

Read Also: 7 Healthy Drinks for Kids (And 3 Unhealthy Ones)

Agric4Profits

Benadine Nonye is an agricultural consultant and a writer with over 12 years of professional experience in the agriculture industry. - National Diploma in Agricultural Technology - Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science - Master's Degree in Science Education... Visit My Websites On: 1. Agric4Profits.com - Your Comprehensive Practical Agricultural Knowledge and Farmer’s Guide Website! 2. WealthinWastes.com - For Effective Environmental Management through Proper Waste Management and Recycling Practices! Join Me On: Twitter: @benadinenonye - Instagram: benadinenonye - LinkedIn: benadinenonye - YouTube: Agric4Profits TV and WealthInWastes TV - Pinterest: BenadineNonye4u - Facebook: BenadineNonye

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