SOIL EROSION
Methods to reduce it:
Terracing
Mantaining crop cover
Windbreaks
Adding organic matter
Bunds
Multi-layered approach to cropping
Contour ploughing
When land is cultivated and left without vegetables for a period of time, the root system is not enough to bind the soil.
If this method is used, the forrows help prevent erosion until the plants are established.
There are artificial banks at the edges of growing spaces designed to hold back water.
usually used for crops that need to be submerged at some stage
They can provide additional habitats for benefitial incects
Their roots will help to hold back soil if the area is prone to erosion buy run-off
By rainwater on steep slopes
When rainfall falls on a natural slope, it runs down the hillside due to gravity
As it happens, the volume of water increases and so does the speed
Consist in mixed cropping: growing more than one trpe of plant in the same area
Nutrients are used more efficiently
A soil is more at risk if it is has been left uncovered or broken into small particles.
This can be addressed by adding more organic matter
The organic matter has many effects that improves the soil structure
Cultivated soil is most vulnerable to erosion when there is little to hold it together
But it's relatively easy to reduce the risk by maintaining a vegetative cover on the land for as long as possible.