Ways To Prevent Soil Erosion
Accelerated soil erosion is a problem practically all over the world. The soil gets eroded when water or wind remove the fertile topsoil and deposits it in some other place. Soil erosion is also responsible for causing marine pollution and depletion of groundwater as rainwater cannot be absorbed due to compaction of soil. |
The main reason for soil erosion is bad agricultural practices, overgrazing, felling of trees and construction. Soil erosion can irreversibly damage natural farmlands making the soil infertile. The good news is that there are ways to prevent soil erosion. Some of the ways to prevent soil erosion are enumerated below.
One of the best ways to prevent soil erosion is by planting trees. The roots of the trees bind soil together and at the same time create narrow channels for the water to flow. So, when it rains, the water flows through these channels and ultimately gets absorbed replenishing the groundwater.
Where wind is the culprit for causing soil erosion, windbreaks can be erected. A windbreak can be a row of trees, bushes and even hedges. This will prevent the wind from sweeping over the land and carrying away the fertile soil.
Farmers have to be taught the importance of polyculture, many of them still use monoculture to grow crops. When just a single crop is grown over and over again, the nutrients from the soil are depleted and not replenished. However, when multiple crops are grown simultaneously, then some of these crops replenish the nutrients that are used during the growing process. This concept also holds true when farmers resort to crop rotation. For instance, the farmer first grows wheat and then plants legumes in the same field. The legumes will replenish the nitrogen level of the soil that the wheat used up.
In hilly regions, farmers can use contour farming technique, which involves following the natural contour of the land planting the crops along the slopes of the hills. This will not only control soil erosion due to water, it will also prevent it.
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