AGRIANS ACADEMY

Agronomy

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 Soil Conservation Measures
Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the top most layer of the soil
from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification,
salinization or other chemical soil contamination.
Agronomic conservation measures function by reducing the impact of raindrops
through interception and thus reducing soil erosion and increasing infiltration rates, and
also reducing surface runoff and soil erosion. There are a number of the agronomic
measures of soil and water conservation.
Mechanical measures play a vital role in controlling and preventing soil erosion on
agricultural lands. They are adopted to supplement the agricultural practices (biological
methods). The mechanical measures include contour bund, graded bund, terracing and
contour stonewall etc.
 Agronomic measures
• Adopted where slope is <2%.
Types
1. Contour farming: A simple practice of farming across the slope. It reduces runoff,
prevents soil erosion, conserve soil fertility and increase crop yields.
2. Mulching: Mulch is any material applied on the soil surface to check evaporation and
improve soil water. It also breaks the surface crust which forms after each downpour.
3. Strip cropping: It is the system of growing alternate strips of erosion permitting crops
(Row crops like Maize, Jowar, Bajra) and erosion resisting crops (Close growing crops
like Green gram, Black gram, Groundnut) in the same field. This reduces the velocity
of runoff and checks eroded soil from being washed away.
4. Conservation tillage: It includes reduced tillage, minimum tillage, no tillage, mulch
tillage, stubble mulch, strip tillage.
5. Deep tillage: Beneficial for some crops and some soils but not for all. It requires drought
power which is usually in short supply in semi arid areas.

6. Growing of cover crops: Cultivated legumes, furnish a better cover and better protection
of cultivated land against erosion than ordinary cultivated crops. Mostly preferred cover
crops are Green gram, Black gram, Cowpea, Groundnut etc.
 Mechanical measures
• Adopted where slope is >2%
• To supplement the agronomical practices.
• These measures includes: Bunding, Terracing, Trenching, Basin-listing and Sub-soiling.
 Bunding
• An earthen embankment constructed to control runoff and minimize soil erosion by reducing
length of slope.
It is of following types
a) Contour bunding: It is adopted where land slope is upto 6 % and used in arid and semi
arid areas with high infiltration and permeability. The average annual rainfall is <600mm.
This practice consists of making a comparatively narrow based embankment at intervals
across the slope of land.
b) Graded bunding: It is suitable for land having slope 2-10% and rainfall >800mm. In this
the water flows in graded channel constructed on upstream of bunds and leads to safe
outlet on grassed waterways. Graded bunds may be Narrow-based or Broad-based.
 Grassed waterways: These are natural or constructed water courses covered with erosion
resistant grasses and are used to dispose surface water from the cropland. They are
constructed along the slope of land. Panicum repens best suited grass followed by
Brachiara mutica, Cynodon dactylon, C. plectostachynus and Paspalum notatum.
 Graded bunding

Contour bunding

These are constructed where the excess water is to be

removed safely to avoid water stagnation.
 Terracing
• It is a combination of Ridge and Channels built across the slope. This is generally
practiced in steep hill slope.
• Types:
a) Bench terracing: It consists of construction of step like fields along the contour by half
cutting and half filling. Original slope of land is converted into level fields and thus all
hazards of erosion are eliminated. It is generally practiced on land having slope range 16-
33% (on steep slopping).
Bench terraces may be Table top, sloping inward, Sloping outward. A small shoulder bund of
about 30cm in height is also constructed along the outer edge of the terrace.
b) Zing terracing: Practiced on land having slope range 3-10%. It is constructed in medium
to deep soils in moderate to high rainfall areas.
Aim: To cut down the length of slope, To harvest the runoff from upper areas for the benefits
of crops grown in lower areas.
 Zing terracing

Bench terracing
 Trenching
• Trenching is made along the contour for soil and moisture conservation and afforestation
purpose.
• Size of trenches: 60 cm x 48 cm
• Spacing of trenches: 10 -30 m
• Trenches are half filled with excavated material and remaining half of the soil from the spoil
bank.
 Sub soiling
• It consists of breaking the hard and impermeable sub-soil with a sub-soiler to conserve more
rain water by improving the physical conditions of the soil.
• This reduces both runoff and soil erosion.
• The sub-soiler work through the soil at a depth of 30-60 cm at a spacing of 90-180 cm.
• Slope of land ranges from 2-8%.
• Bund height should be 30-45 cm.
• Suitable for dryland horticulture and agroforestry.
 Broad bed and furrows
• This system is laid within the field boundaries.
• Suitable for managing rain water in deep black soils where surface drainage during the
monsoon period is a problem.
• Maize and Sorghum is grown in beds and Rice in furrows.
• BBF acts as a drainage during heavy rains.
• Conserve soil moisture in dryland.
• Controls soil erosion.
 Vegetative barriers

• Vegetative barriers are closely spaced plantations, usually a few rows of grasses/shrubs
grown along contours for erosion control.
• Vettiveria zelanica (Khus) is most suitable plant for this purpose.
• Panicum virgatum (Switch grass) and Tripsaccum dactyloides (Eastern gamagrass) have the
desired characters and both are warm season plants.
• Vegetative barriers are narrow strips of 1-3 ft. wide.
 Vertical mulching
• Digging narrow trenches across the slope at intervals and placing the straw/crop residues in
these trenches.
• Mostly practiced in Coffee gardens.
• Also defined as the creating of holes around the base of a tree/shrub that is stressed. The
holes are filled with organic material. The aeration can dramatically improve the root growth
and reduce the stress caused in lawn environment.
• How thick should be the mulch: A layer of <10 cm should be used(in case of organic
matter). Too thick mulching might shade the seedlings and too much mulching prevent
airflow and encourage disease.
• Vertical mulching in coffee: Most widely used materials are Napier grass, Guinea grass,
Guatemala grass, Banana trash, Coffee pulp and Coffee husk, Maize Stover and Sorghum
straw.
• Before mulching these materials are dried up in sun.
• Methods of mulching should be Ring mulched at planting and continued for 3 years for
young coffee.
• The thickness of mulching material is ranging 4-9 inches.
• Time of mulching may be onset of rainy season or before the end of rainy season.
• Advantages: Minimizing soil erosion, reducing soil temp., protecting soil surface from
impact of falling rain, keeping soil moisture, reducing weed growth and increasing coffee
production.
• Disadvantage: Fire risk in dry season.
 Vertical mulching in Coffee

Vertical mulch material