EXERCISE 11

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION

Soil erosion – loss of soil through the action of either water, wind or gravity

Water – most important agent of erosion in humid tropical areas

Wind – arid and semi-arid regions

 worst environmental problem in the Philippines (World Bank, 1989)

SOIL EROSION PROCESS

1. Detachment

Rainfall – most important detachment agent

Detachment-limited erosion – eroding agents have the capacity to transport
more material than is supplied by detachment

2. Transport/Entrainment

Transport-limited erosion – more material is supplied than can be transported

3. Deposition – occurs when sufficient energy is no longer available to transport the

particles

FACTORS INFLUENCING SOIL EROSION

1. Erosivity (water/wind)

- for rainfall, it is a function of :

 Intensity
 Duration
 Mass of raindrop
 Diameter of raindrop
 Velocity of raindrop

2. Erodibility

- defines the resistance of the soil to both detachment and transport

- varies with soil texture, structure, aggregate stability, shear strength, infiltration
capacity and organic and chemical content

 Large particles are resistant to transport because of the greater force required to
entrain them. Fine particles are resistant to detachment because of their
cohesiveness
 ☺ Silts and fine sands – least resistant particles
☺ Soils with 40-60% silt content are the most susceptible

 Shear strength – a measure of the soil’s cohesiveness and resistance to shearing

forces exerted by gravity, moving fluids and mechanical loads. Strength is
derived from frictional resistance, cohesive forces related to chemical bonding
and surface tension forces.

 Infiltration capacity – the maximum sustained rate at which soil can absorb water.

Influenced by :
♦ pore size
♦ pore stability
♦ form of soil profile (surface is often the critical horizon)

 Soils with less than 2% organic carbon, equivalent to about 3.5% organic content,
can be considered erodible.

3. Slope

- function of slope length and slope steepness (angle/gradient)

Slope length – the distance from the point of flow to the point of runoff.

 For short slopes, the rate increase in soil loss rises rapidly, but for long slopes, the
rate of increase is very small. There is a limit to the length of a slope that will
influence soil loss.

 As slope steepness increases, soil loss rate also rises at an increasing rate

 When soil slope exceeds a critical steepness, rill erosion begins, which causes total
soil loss to increase rapidly.

4. Plant Cover

 The greatest deterrent to soil erosion is cover.

 The major role of vegetation in reducing erosion is in the interception of the

raindrops so that their kinetic energy is dissipated rather than imparted to the soil.

 Under certain conditions, a plant cover can exacerbate erosion. Raindrops

intercepted by the canopy may coalesce on the leaves to form larger drops which
are more erosive

 Overall, forests are the most efficient (usually with dense ground litter), but a dense
growth of grass maybe almost as efficient.
 5. Human activities

- tillage (for crop production) - burning

- overgrazing - mining
- logging - road construction

 reduction of vegetation cover

Some Facts Under Philippine Setting

Forest Cover
- 1950s – 75% ; 1988 – 25%; 2006 - ?

Rate of Forest Depletion (1976-1986)

- 119, 000 hectares/ year

Yearly volume of erosion caused by degradation

- 1,000,000,000 m3 of material

PREDICTING AND ESTIMATING EROSION

> The most widely used tool to estimate erosion is the Universal Soil Loss Equation
(USLE).
A = 0.224.R.K.L.S.C.P, where

A = average annual soil loss per unit area

R = the rainfall erosivity factor
K = the soil erodibility factor
L = the slope length factor
S = the slope gradient factor
C = the cropping management factor
P = the erosion control practice factor

☺ Read Appendix 11.1 (lab manual, pages 120-121) for further explanation
about USLE

LIMITATIONS OF THE USLE

1. Developed mainly for the U.S., east of the Rocky Mountains. Variations in sites
and conditions exist
2. It does not explicitly represent hydrologic and erosion processes, i.e. runoff
3. There is considerable interdependence between variables
SOIL CONSERVATION

● control of soil erosion

● maintenance of soil fertility and productivity
● avoidance of soil toxicities

AVAILABLE AND EXISTING SOIL CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR

THE UPLANDS AND SLOPELANDS

A. Indigenous Technologies

1. Banawe Rice Terraces

- agroforestry farming system on a macro-wide scale
- payoh (rice terraces) – pinugo (forest) system

2. Day-og (Cordillera forest dwellers)

- grasses and other plant debris are spread over the area intended for planting
→ decomposition → organic fertilizer

3. Gen-gen (Ikalahans- Southern Cordillera, Caraballo, Sierra Madre)

- low embankments of turf and plant debris, sometimes with shallow contour
trenches

4. Balabag (Naalad, Cebu – Naalad system)

- ipil-ipil stems bundled into rows across the slope and staked to form low
barriers

5. Tuping (Ikalahans, Cebu, Siquijor – rockwalls)

- piling rocks from cropping alleys on the contour

6. Bangtal (Tabanwas of Palawan)

- laying logs from clearing operations across the slope

7. Tudling (Batangas)
- planting ipil-ipil in straight lines across the slope, sometimes supplemented by
banana

8. Rotation agroforestry (swidden/shifting cultivation, kaingin)

- slash-and-burn cultivation with a fallow period.
- fallow period being observed

9. Bench terracing (Benguet)

- construction of earthen embankments along the contour lines
- widely used by vegetable growers
B. Non-indigenous Technologies (Introduced)

1. Alley cropping/hedgerow intercropping

- the simplest agroforestry system currently practiced in the Philippines
ex. SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology, MBRLC, Bansalan, Davao
del Sur)

Proofs: soil loss reduced from 200t/ha/yr to 20t/ha/yr using kakawate and
napier as hedgerows (Claveria, Misamis Oriental)

: maize yield increased from 300kgs/ha/yr to 1,500kgs/ha/yr with

ipil-ipil as hedgerows (Cebu)

2. Multistorey agroforestry system

- multi-layered canopy
ex. coconut-based farming system

3. Reforestation
- replanting of denuded forestlands
- watershed rehabilitation

4. Geotextiles
- use of coconets