Title: You have learnt from the lessons in the earlier Modules that soil properties influence soil health'
1Soil Health Management
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
Module III
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- You have learnt from the lessons in the
earlier Modules that soil properties influence
soil health. - These soil properties in turn are affected by
the agricultural practices followed by a farmer. - Good agricultural practices not only help in
managing the soil but also improve soil health. - What are these good agricultural practices?
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Course on Soil and Soil Health
2Soil Health Management
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
Module III
- The good agricultural practices that help in
improving and managing soil health focus on - Improving and maintaining organic matter in
- the soil
- Avoiding tillage practices that harm the soil
- structure
- Conserving the soil from erosion and other soil
- degrading effects
- Adopting integrated nutrient and pest
- management practices,
- Rectifying soil problems like acidity and
- alkalinity.
Course on Soil and Soil Health
3-
- After completing this Lesson, you will be able
to answer - What is soil degradation?
- What are the causes for soil degradation?
- What is soil erosion?
- How soil erosion occurs?
- List out the various practices that help in
preventing soil erosion? - Explain the practices that help in preventing
soil erosion on soils with different slopes?
4- Soil degradation refers to changes in a soil
from its original nature. - Soil degradation results due to many
agricultural activities. - The visible soil degradation is due to soil
erosion. - The invisible soil degradation happens due to
the loss of plant nutrients and many useful
microorganisms (chemical degradation), damage due
to water logging and soil compactness etc
(physical degradation).
5-
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- World-wide soil
Degradation - Source of Data Oldeman, L.R., R.T.A. Hakkeling,
and W.G. Sombroek. 1990. World Map of the Status
of Human-Induced Soil Degradation. An Explanatory
Note, rev. 2nd edition. International Soil
Reference and Information Center, Wageningen, the
Netherlands.
6- Soil erosion results due to washing-off of the
rich top soil from a field due to gravity of
water from heavy rainfall or wind.
Soil erosion
7- Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce soil
erosion through certain practices - For areas with mild slopes
- Reduced tillage Tilling only the areas that
matter while minimally disturbing the soil.
Ex. Tilling between furrows.
8- Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce soil
erosion through certain practices - For areas with mild slopes
- Stubble-mulching Leaving crop stubble on
the field as long as possible to keep the
soil covered, reduce evaporation, reduce
weed growth and allow the soil organisms
to decompose the plant residues. -
9- For areas with gentle slopes
- Contour bunding consist of building earthen
embankments across the slope of the land,
following the contour as closely as possible. -
Contour bund
10- For areas with gentle slopes
-
- Contour bunding
- A series of such bunds divide the area into
strips and act as barriers to the flow of water,
thus reducing the amount and velocity of the
runoff allowing better infiltration of water into
the soil.
Contour bunds
11 For areas with gentle slopes Vegetative
bunds Permanent contour strips of grass or
shrubs are useful on gentle slopes. Dense and
continuous vegetative cover will slow down the
runoff and cause deposition of silt which over
time act as a bench terrace. Economically
important and unpalatable grasses like Vetiver
(Vetiveria zizanoides) and Cymbopogon citratus
are useful.
12-
- For areas with gentle slopes
- Contour cultivation is a practice of conducting
field operations, such as ploughing, planting,
and cultivating land, across the slope rather
than up and downhill (Fig.).
13- For areas with gentle slopes
- Contour cultivation The ridges or broad-bed
furrows (BBF) and the crop cover on the contoured
rows hold water and thus prevent runoff and soil
erosion.
14- For areas with gentle slopes
- Strip cropping
- Growing of crops in strips of few rows of each
crop. A strip of tall growing cereal crop can be
altered with a strip of short legume crop. This
reduces the down slope length of the field
considerably, reducing the chance of erosion.
Neighboring strips uses leached nutrients. -
15- For areas with gentle slopes
- Strip cropping
Soybean strip
Maize strip
16- For areas with steeper slopes
- Terracing
- The ultimate in soil conservation on steeper
hills. It is extensively practiced in plantation
crops and paddy cultivation in hills where water
is also harvested at the same time. Terracing can
reduce erosion many-fold. -
17-
- For more information on soil and water
conservation, please visit the following Internet
sites. - http//www.krishiworld.com/html/soil_water_con
2.html - http//megsoil.nic.in/why_cons.htm
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18Soil Health Management
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
Module III
-
- This concludes the Lesson 3 Conserving the
soil from degrading effects - in this Module. - Next, Lesson 4 in this Module, practices for
integrated nutrient and pest management are
explained briefly. - Problem soils and their reclamation procedures
are discussed in the last Lesson in this Module. - Select Lesson 4 in Module III from the list of
course contents
Course on Soil and Soil Health