10 Methods Of Soil Conservation

Soil conservation refers to a group of practices aimed at preserving the soil. Overuse, erosion, salinization, and chemical contamination are all factors that contribute to soil loss and soil fertility loss. Unsustainable subsistence farming, as well as the slash-and-burn clearing methods used in some less developed areas, can result in massive deforestation, soil nutrient loss, erosion, and even desertification.

 

•    The ridges and furrows break the flow of water down the hill when ploughing is done at right angles to the hill slope, following the natural contour of the hill. This reduces run-off and prevents excessive soil loss by preventing gullies from forming, allowing plants to receive more water. 

 

•    Row crops and small grains are frequently planted in contour patterns to allow the plants to absorb as much rain as possible and reduce erosion.

 

•    Slopes can be divided into a series of terraces, each with enough level ground for cultivation and an outer wall at the edge to keep the soil in place and slow the flow of rainwater down the slope.

 

•    In Monsoon Asia, terracing is widely used for wet paddy cultivation because excess water and silt can be retained at each terrace, resulting in flooded paddy fields. To combat soil erosion, many tree crops, such as rubber, are planted on terraces. Terraces are also used in arid and semi-arid climates with steep slopes. Terracing allows farmers in mountainous areas to plant vines or other crops on the steep ground on valleys' preferred "sunny slopes."

 

•    Crops can be grown in alternate strips that run parallel to each other. Some strips may be left fallow, while others are planted with a variety of crops, such as grains, legumes, and small tree crops. 

 

•    The different crops ripen at different times of the year and are harvested at different times of the year. This ensures that the entire area is never left bare or exposed. 

 

•    The tall-growing crops act as windbreaks and the strips, which are often parallel to the contours, help to increase water absorption by the soil by slowing down run-off.

 

•    It's sometimes necessary to let heavily used land rest or lie fallow so that natural forces can work on the soil. The decayed natural vegetative matter in the soil aids in the increase of plant nutrients. Fallowing also improves the overall structure of the soil by increasing the moisture in the subsoil.

 

•    After the harvest, temperate regions commonly practice winter fallow, but cultivation resumes in the spring after the snow and frost have weathered the top soil. In intensively managed farms, however, long periods of fallow cannot be tolerated because farmers cannot afford it.

 

•    Fields in semi-arid areas may be left fallow for several years, though they are frequently ploughed or mulched, that is, spread with straw or the stubble from previous harvests. By reducing evaporation, they can build up a sufficient supply of moisture, and a crop can be grown every few years. Dry farming is practiced in the western United States and parts of Mediterranean Europe.

 

•    Cover crops may be interplant between young trees in some cases, such as in plantations where the gestation period of tree crops is long. Creepers are preferred because they spread widely and provide a useful cover for protecting the top soil from the full force of tropical downpours.

 

•    Leguminous crops are frequently used because they add nitrogen to the soil, and care must be taken to ensure that the cover crop does not compete with the young trees for essential plant nutrients. 

 

•    Cover crops can be grown for the sole purpose of protecting the soil, or they can be made up of other valuable plants, such as vegetables, that provide income while the plantation crop matures. 

 

•    Cotton, maize, and tobacco are examples of catch crops that should be avoided because they deplete the soil or promote soil erosion rather than preventing it.

 

•    Growing the same crop in the same field for more than two years in a row is not recommended because the crop will exhaust one type of mineral nutrient. Potatoes, for example, require a lot of potassium, whereas wheat requires nitrates.

 

•    As a result, it's best to rotate crops in the fields. By converting free nitrogen in the air into nitrogenous nodules on their roots, legumes such as peas, beans, clover, vetch, and many other plants add nitrates to the soil. As a result, nitrogen fertilizers can be avoided if they are included in the crop rotation.

 

•    Soil fertility can be naturally maintained by rotating different types of crops in successive years. The Norfolk Rotation, which involves growing four crops in a given field over a four-year period, is the most well-known crop rotation.

 

•    Wheat (cereal); clover or beans (legume); barley (another cereal); and turnips or sugar-beet (root vegetable) (root crops). 

 

•    In fact, on most temperate mixed farms, all of these crops will be grown on some of the fields each year, but the fields in which they are grown will be different each year to keep the rotation going. If moisture and other conditions allow, the land can be much more profitably used by employing rotation systems rather than simply allowing it to lie fallow.

 

•    This practice is similar to crop rotation in that it aids in the preservation of soil fertility. Crops that are harvested once a year can be alternated in the field. However, where perennial crops such as tree crops are grown, crop diversification is most important to the farmer for economic reasons. 

 

•    When world commodity prices are falling, it reduces the risk of relying on a single crop (monoculture).

 

•    All primary commodities, such as rubber, oil palm, cocoa, and cotton, are subject to significant price fluctuations, which are largely determined by demand in the Western world. When prevailing prices for the major money-earning crop are low, over-dependence on one crop can be disastrous for the national economy as well as for individual farmers, as in the case of Brazil's coffee, Ghana's cocoa, or Malaysia's rubber.

 

•    Crop diversification solves this problem because when one crop is in short supply, another may be in high demand. Another significant benefit of crop diversification is that it allows for the use of all types of land, such as hill slopes for rubber, flat plains for oil palm, and sandy soils for coconuts. 

 

•    On a national and local level, crop diversification can lead to the most efficient use of land.

 

•    Water management is one of the most important ways to improve land for farming. Aeration can be improved, useful bacteria activity can be stimulated, and crop yields can be increased by regulating the amount of water in the soil. 

 

•    Furthermore, areas that are marginal or useless in their natural state, such as deserts or swamps, can be brought into agricultural production by draining or irrigating land –It is important to note that drainage and irrigation are intertwined. It is also important to provide drainage facilities where irrigation is used, so that the irrigation water does not become stagnant. 

 

•    Irrigation is also required in drained areas to prevent unwanted seawater from seeping into the drained land. To put it another way, a delicate balance must be maintained.

 

•    Contour bonding is the construction of small bunds across the slopes of land on a contour so that the long slope is cut into a series of small ones and earth contour bunds act as a barrier to the flow of water, causing it to ‘walk' rather than ‘run' while also impounding a greater portion of water against the bund to increase soil moisture.

 

•    Vegetative measures are the most common way to reduce wind surface velocity, which has an impact on abrasive and transportation capacity. This results in a forest of trees that can act as a frictional drag and a stumbling block in the flow's path.