AGPASA, TRAVIS ULRICH P.

13/10/2023
STEM 11-NOETHER

Human Activities that Affect the Quality and Quantity of Soil

1. Agricultural activities. When it comes to agriculture, crop yield is often dependent on

soil quality. And as soil continues to get farmed, it will gradually decrease its quality.

2. Mining activities. Every time a land gets mined, it would not only lose the minerals
within it but also its soil. And when all the minerals get extracted, the land would only be
barren of fertile soil.

3. Industrialization. Factories often produce waste such as smoke and chemicals, which
find their way into the soil through landfills and acid rain. As a result, the quality of a soil
changes as it becomes unsuitable for plant life.

4. Deforestation and soil erosion. Trees are very important when it comes to the
ecosystem and the maintenance of soil quality. And when a land gets deforested, its soil
would be left infertile and vulnerable to natural disasters.

5. Waste management activities. Like all other parts of the ecosystem, the soil can be
affected by the disruption of the environment. One such disruption is waste disposal,
where the soil is filled by toxic waste that would lose its quality.

5 Ways to Conserve Soil

1. Crop rotation – It is the practice of planting different crops sequentially on the same plot
of land to improve soil health, optimize nutrients in the soil, and combat pest and weed
pressure.

2. Reduced tillage – It means less intensity, shallower depth, and less area disturbed,
either in the bed, field or across the farm.

3. Mulching - It is the act of covering the soil with mulches, such as bark, wood chips,
leaves, and other organic material, in order to preserve moisture and improve the
condition of the soil.

4. Cover cropping - Cover crops are those crops that are planted to increase the health of
the soil, reduce the weeds, enhance water availability, help to control pests, prevent sun
damage, and slow erosion during periods when a farmer's commercial crops are not
being grown there.

5. Cross-slope faming - This practice is used to reduce sheet and rill erosion; reduce the
transport of sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other contaminants offsite.
AGPASA, TRAVIS ULRICH P. 13/10/2023
STEM 11-NOETHER