Agronomic Measures

1. In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent,
The Most Merciful.

2. SOIL CONSERVATION
Saad Farooqi
CIIT/FA18-R07-004/ATD
MS-ES
Department of Environmental Sciences
COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus

3. Introduction
 Management of soil
 Prevent the destruction of soil
 Soil can be conserved through
 Soil conservation strategies
 Agronomic measures of soil conservation
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4. Agronomic Measures
 Crop rotation
 Land Preparation
 Contour Cultivation
 Choice of crops
 Strip cropping
 Cropping system
 Cover crops
 Mulching
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 Manure and Fertilizer
 Bench Terracing
 Vegetation Barriers
 Ridges and Furrows
 Wind Breaks
 Maintaining of Soil pH
 Salinity Management
 Soil organism

5. Cont..
Crop rotation
 Different crops are planted after the other.
 Prevent the accumulation of pathogens.
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6. Cont..
Land preparation
 Tillage influence intake of water.
 Deep ploughing or chiseling.
 Rough cloddy surface.
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7. Cont..
Contour cultivation
 A line joining the points of equal elevation.
 Ploughing, sowing, inter-cultivation in slope.
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8. Cont..
Choice of crops
 Row or tall growing crops is not a protective for conservation.
 i.e. Sorgham, Maize and Pearl Millet called permitting crops
 Growing crops Cowpea, ground nut, Green grams and Black
Grams
 Protect soil are called erosion resisting crops.
 Minimizing the impact of rain drop.
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9. Cont..
Strip cropping
 Ordinary crops are planted in form of relatively narrow strips
across the land slope.
 In area where terraces are not practically feasible
 Check the surface runoff and infiltrate into the soil.
 Used in those areas where length of slope is not too longer.
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10. Cont..
Cropping system
 Mono-cropping permitting crop lead to soil & water loss.
 Intercropping of permitting crops, resisting crops & rotation.
 Legumes like Alfalfa reduces soil loss even in 13% slope.
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11. Cont..
Cover crops
 Good ground cover give protection to the land.
 Hold soluble nutrients which are lost by leaching.
 Addition of organic matter.
 Legumes, Horse grams, green gram, black gram provide
better cover.
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12. Cont..
Mulching
 Mulching of soil with available plant
residues reduce soil loss considerably
by protecting.
 Reduce the direct impact of raindrop
on the soil.
 Reduce soil sediments carried with
runoff.
 Plant residue cover of 30% is
necessary to keep soil loss
 Reduce soil loss particularly in
vertisols by increasing infiltration.
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13. Cont..
Manure and Fertilizer
 Organic manures improve soil physical conditions. Reduce
soil loss.
 Fertilizers improve vegetative canopy, which aid in erosion
control.
 Soils with stable aggregates resist breakdown and thus resist
erosion.
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14. Cont..
Bench Terracing
 Terraces are made across the slope to reduce the slope
length and erosion.
 Excavating soil from upper part and filling in the lower part.
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15. Cont..
Vegetative barriers
 Row of closely planted grass or shrub.
 Velocity of runoff and retain the sediments
 Acting as barrier to runoff.
 Kobus Khus (Vetiveria Zyzynoides) recommended for this.
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16. Cont..
Ridges and Furrows
 The field must be formed into ridges and furrows
 Furrows of 30-45 cm width and 15-20 cm height are formed
across the slope.
 Runoff water safely when rainfall intensity is high and avoid
water stagnation.
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17. Cont..
Wind Breaks
 Trees act as wind barriers
and prevent soil.
 Dense rows or stand of
trees.
 Evergreen species are
preferred.
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18. Cont..
Maintaining the soil pH
 The measurement of soil’s acidity or alkalinity by soil pH level.
 Due to addition of basic or acidic pollutants.
Salinity management
 Excessive salts in soil has harmful effects on plant.
 Lead to death of vegetation, causes soil erosion.
 Salinity management is important.
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19. Cont..
Soil Organism
 Using beneficial soil organism like earth worm.
 Helps in aeration of soil and make macro nutrients.
 Thus soil become more fertile and porous.
 Microorganism play vital role.
 Nitrogen fixing bacteria such as Rhizobia produce ammonia in
the exchange for carbohydrates.
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