What is planting along the natural contours of the land to reduce soil erosion?
contour farming. planting along the natural contours of the land to reduce soil erosion.
What does planting on contour mean?
Contour farming is farming with row patterns that run nearly level around the hill — not up and down the hill. Contour stripcropping is crop rotation and contouring combined in equal-width strips of corn or soybeans planted on the contour and alternated with strips of oats, grasses, or legumes.
Does planting along the contour prevent soil erosion?
Contour farming can reduce soil erosion by as much as 50 percent compared to up and down hill farming. By reducing sediment and runoff and increasing water infiltration, contouring promotes better water quality.
What are the types of contour farming?
- Mulch farming. Mulch is a layer of crop residue placed on the soil surface.
- Conservation tillage. Soil structure is extremely prone to intense tropical rains and harsh climate.
- Strip cropping.
- Contour farming.
- Cover crops.
- Vegetative hedges or strips.
Which of the following is the best practice to decrease soil erosion?
Crop Rotation: Rotating in high-residue crops — such as corn, hay, and small grain — can reduce erosion as the layer of residue protects topsoil from being carried away by wind and water. Conservation Tillage: Conventional tillage produces a smooth surface that leaves soil vulnerable to erosion.
Which of these tactics does the most to reduce soil erosion?
By applying some relatively simple steps, you can control and prevent soil erosion! The four most common soil erosion prevention methods are vegetation, geo textiles, mulch, and retaining walls. Hope this helps.
What are the disadvantages of contour farming?
Therefore, contour farming alone is not sufficient to control erosion on steep, long slopes, erodible soils, and during erosive rains. The major drawbacks of contour farming are frequent turning involving extra labor and machinery time, and loss of some area that may have to be put out of production.
What is contour farming where and why it is done?
Contour farming, the practice of tilling sloped land along lines of consistent elevation in order to conserve rainwater and to reduce soil losses from surface erosion. Contour farming can help absorb the impact of heavy rains, which in straight-line planting often wash away topsoil.
Which is most effective in wind erosion?
Loams, clay loams and silt loams are generally more resistant to aggregate breakdown, and thus are more resistant to wind erosion. Soil structure is the combination of individual soil particles into aggregates. Aggregates are heavier than individual particles and so are harder for wind to move.
How do farmers use contour farming to prevent soil erosion?
Contouring. Performing tillage and planting crops along the contour of the land can be an effective conservation measure. Rill development is reduced when surface runoff is impounded in small depressions. Contour farming not only minimizes erosion but also reduces runoff by storing rainfall behind ridges.
Where and why contour farming is done?
Contour cultivation (contour farming, contour plowing, or contour bunding) is a sustainable way of farming where farmers plant crops across or perpendicular to slopes to follow the contours of a slope of a field. This arrangement of plants breaks up the flow of water and makes it harder for soil erosion to occur.
What do farmers do to prevent soil erosion?
1. Planting Vegetation as ground cover: Farmers plant trees and grass to cover and bind the soil. Plants prevent wind and water erosion by covering the soil and binding the soil with their roots. The best choice of plants to prevent soil erosion are herbs, wild flowers and small trees.
What are the methods to prevent soil erosion?
You can reduce soil erosion by:
- Maintaining a healthy, perennial plant cover.
- Mulching.
- Planting a cover crop – such as winter rye in vegetable gardens.
- Placing crushed stone, wood chips, and other similar materials in heavily used areas where vegetation is hard to establish and maintain.
What is the limitation of contour line?
The limitations of contouring include; Not all physical features and landforms can be portrayed by the contour lines. E.g. coral reefs and outcrop rocks. The contour lines may fail to indicate some of the highest and important elevations on the map due to limitations of the vertical interval used.
Why is contour farming used?
Farming across the slope helps to shorten slope lengths, slowing down runoff water so it can soak into the soil. Contour farming slows water down and lets it soak into the soil. Combine contour farming with cover cropping and other conservation practices for more soil fertility and slope protection.
What is organic farming and its importance?
Organic farming which is a holistic production management system that promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity is hence important. Many studies have shown that organic farming methods can produce even higher yields than conventional methods.
What are some examples of wind erosion?
Examples of Wind Erosion:
- Sand Dunes. The erosion of sand dunes along the coast line is a serious concern, as the dunes help protect streets and waterways from flooding, especially during storms.
- Rock Formations.
- Canyons.
How can you slow or stop wind erosion?
Reducing Wind Erosion The best way to reduce wind erosion is to keep the wind off the soil surface by covering the soil surface. Growing vegetation, either cash crops or cover crops, protects the soil and keeps the winds higher off the surface. Standing crop residues function the same way.
Which of the following is a benefit of contour farming?
Contour farming captures twice the soil moisture and reduces soil erosion up to eight-fold. The simple act of planting across the slope instead of up and down the hill does two very important things: it captures at least twice the rainwater and reduces soil erosion up to eight-fold.
