You vs' Erosion

1
You vs. Erosion
-What it is -Why its bad -How you can stop
it By Nick Boyce

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

2
Weathering vs. Erosion
-Weathering the disintegration and decomposition
of earth materials (soil is made) -Erosion the
removal and transportation of weathered or
unweathered materials by wind, water, gravity,
etc. (soil is moved)

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

3
Who cares?
Soil contains the four essential ingredients for
plant growth -Water -Air -Organic
matter -Mineral matter add sun and you get
plants

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

4
Who cares?
Soil is a main limiting factor in the worlds
ability to grow enough food In the U.S., a
single year of current practices can see a loss
of 4.5 tons of topsoil per acre, while only 1.2
tons per acre can be re-formed Thats an annual
loss of 2 billion tons of fertile soil on U.S.
farmland alone

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

5
Who cares?
On a global scale, an area the size of China and
India combined has suffered irreparable
degradation This erosion comes primarily from
wind or running water Overgrazing,
deforestation, and off-road vehicles exacerbate
the problem

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

6
Mitigation Techniques
But theres still hope! Follow these easy steps
and you, too, can conserve topsoil

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

7
Terracing
One of the oldest and most efficient means of
saving soil and water Hillsides are turned into
a series of leveled sections

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

8
Terracing
No terrace bad times
Terraced

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

9
Strip cropping
Close-growing plants are alternated with widely
spaced ones.
One of the cheapest and easiest conservation
practices Soil is trapped and some wind is
blocked. Example corn and alfalfa

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

10
Crop rotation
Alternating soil-depleting crops with
soil-enriching ones
Example wheat and clover
corn and soy Soy (among others) can also serve
as a weed suppressor The risk of spreading
disease is also reduced by the variety of crops

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

11
Conservation tillage
Short of no till, fields can be tilled while
minimizing erosion
Tilled fields are very susceptible to erosion
while they lie fallow One technique is to plant
on or between pre-established ridges Some
farmers use additional herbicide to compensate
for not tilling the weeds

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

12
No-Till Farming
Aka zero-till
Plant directly into previous years
stubble Saves tilling costs Can combined tilled
strips with no-till strips Often involves an
increase in chemical use

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage

13
thats all.
Id like to thank Background
http//www.iwmi.cgiar.org/drw/imggallery/88_DrySoi
l.jpg Pg 1 http//lh3.ggpht.com/_WGvsAyyZRWE/R4Gb
ECzRDxI/AAAAAAAAAcI/fg4RKPvsJV0/IMG_0433.JPG Pg3
http//maludan.googlepages.com/TropicalPlantCornPl
ant.jpg/TropicalPlantCornPlant-full.jpg Pg4
http//climateprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008
/04/corn.jpg Pg5 http//www.wellesley.edu/Polisci
/wj/ChinaLinks-New/Images-ChinaLinks1-07/china-map
.jpg http//geology.com/world/india-map.gif
http//www.techtickerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2
006/04/tankchair.jpg Pg6 http//www.lifehack.org/
wp-content/files/2008/05/happy_man.jpg Pg7
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileRice_terraces.pn
g Pg 9 http//oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/photos/str
ip.jpg Pg10 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileCro
ps_Kansas_AST_20010624.jpg Pg11
http//whyfiles.org/199_soil/images/conservation_t
illage.gif Pg12 http//www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thi
sweek/images/contill.jpg Pg13 http//plantandsoil
.unl.edu/croptechnology2005/UserFiles/Image /siteI
mages/GullyErosionPasture-NRCS-LG.jpg
questions?

• Soil - Implications - Terracing - Strip cropping
  - Crop rotation - Conservation tillage