The increased demand regarding the agricultural commodities has often led to the invasion of forest and as well as grasslands in a move to create more avenue for the establishment of farm fields. Even though farming activities gets considered as a measure by the state to increase the amount of food available in the state coffers hence alienating hunger in the United States, these practices have had various impacts to not only the environment but soil itself. Among other factors that have led to the loss of soil as well as its fertility include actions such as overuse of the soil. Engaging in practices such as salinization and not excluding aspects such as soil contamination. To clearly understand the mechanisms that can get adopted to help mitigate as well as conserve the soil, it is vital to get a clear notion of soil erosion and what it entails. Soil erosion is the removal of the simple organic matter components that are essential for the plants and which help them grow healthy. Soil conservation is a measure adopted to aid in the protection of soil; from getting carried away by either wind or water in the cases of rain. Since healthy soil is essential for the perfect growth of plants, it is important to note that various mechanisms need to get implemented in helping to protect the soil from losing its value to plants as well as aligning oneself to an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Some of the measures that can get practiced either at home or in an agricultural setting include
Contour Farming
It involves the action of one tilling the sloped land that they want to engage in agricultural practices. The area often gets tilled along lines which poses a consistent elevation. The main reason for this is usually to ensure that the rain water gets conserved as well as reducing the loss of the soil which may get encountered as a result of surface erosion. The achievement of such practices includes the creation of furrows on the sloppy land surface, playing of crops in rows as well as the creation of wheel tracts all across the slope. They then serve as a reservoir whose primary role is not only trapping but also retaining the rainwater. It, therefore, allows for increased infiltration as well as a uniform distribution of water across the land. The practices have beyond doubts proved more vital in the move to reduce the loss of fertilizers during the farming process, power and not limited to reduction of time used in the entire process of farming. To effectively conserve the soil through contour farming, it is vital to incorporate it with other practices. They include strip cropping, terracing as well as water diversion.
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Terrace Farming
Terracing involves the carving of a piece of land into several layers of hills. Steps often get formed by the terraces. They further got surrounded by mud walls. The main reason for this is to prevent runoffs. The practice also ensures that the soil nutrients get held into the beds hence avoiding them from getting eroded. Due to the difficulties that exist in the use of modern equipment in terraces landscapes, the practice has gotten applied in continent Asia in the rice plantations. Several benefits accrue from the use of the terrace. Among them include, preventing the fertile soil from getting washed away by the rainwater that flows down the land. The plants also get guaranteed of the protection of the risk of getting carried away by running water which may lead to lower crop yield. The terraces are equally beneficial in the prevention of excessive water loss as well as soil erosion on that particular land. The adoption of terracing has made farming in mountainous lands way possible. Its absence could have had a detrimental impact on Asia because the region is highly mountainous. It would have made Asia unproductive.
Geotextile
A geotextile mechanism is a scientific approach to soil conservation by protecting the soil surface against tractive forces of either moving water wind or that of rain erosion. It further helps in the sieving of sediments from running water. In this case, the technology stops particles that may be flowing in running water. After a while, the geotextile ends up accumulating more solid particles that further reduces the flow of water. Through this, enough more soil gets trapped hence preventing them from getting carried away. Soil conservation, therefore, gets witnessed.
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation involves the practice of growing different variety of crops in a particular portion of land in a sequenced season. The primary purpose for practicing this is often to avoid the concentration of one specific nutrient on the farm. The practice mainly helps not only in the increasing of the nutrient contents in the soul but also preventing erosion of the soil. The practice of growing a specific type of crop in a single portion of land over and over often leads to depletion of nutrients as well as the soil. With crop rotation, particular vegetation that often leaches the soil a specific kind of nutrients in most cases gets followed ion the next season by that kind of crop which restores the nutrients to the soil. It may also get followed by a plant that brings additional nutrients to the soil and not specifically the nutrient that got depleted in the previous planting season. Crop rotation equally brings about several advantages to the soil. For example, mitigating the buildup of those pathogens which in most cases often exists when a specific kind of crop get planted in a farm continuously over thes4easons. The soil structure also gets to improve as a result of crop rotation and not limited to increasing the fertility of the soil as a result of increasing the biomass due to the various root structures
Salinity Management
When evaporation takes place in the soil, the salt often gets left behind. It may possess an adverse effect on the soil by damaging it as well as leading to loss of its nutrients. By adopting the use of humic acid to the soil, it significantly prevents rejuvenates the soil. The adoption of plants like saltbush would equally help in balancing the level of salt in the soil as well as replacing the lost nutrients as a result of evaporation which leads to a change in the soil water table. Salinity management, therefore, helps in the conservation of the soil by boosting its nutrients level
Re-establish Forest Cover
Increased vegetation on land has beyond doubt become instrumental in assisting mitigate soil erosion. Practices such as increasing plantation of trees lead to a vast network of roots in the soil. Through this, the soil gets compacted together making it rigid hence hard to get eroded through means such as running water. The trees equally benefit the soil by serving as windbreakers. The soil, therefore, does not get carried away by winds like seen in the desert when the wind blows. The practice, thus, helps in controlling soil erosion hence conserving it in the long run.
Streambank Protection
Floods often come up with risks of making the stream banks to cave in. The planting of trees along the banks of rivers or erecting stone walls along the bank helps in preventing cases of soil loss more so with the flowing water. The practice though not commonly used may serve as another measure of conserving the soil.
Conclusion
In as much as agriculture is essential to humans, so is the soil to plants. Appropriate and effective mechanisms need to get adopted to help in preventing cases of soil loss to pollution agents such as wind and moving water. Several ways can get used in ensuring that the soil gets appropriately conserved. They include practices such as contour farming, terrace farming, geotextile and not limited to salinity management, crop rotation and stream bank protection. Such measures will not only ensure that soil erosion is significantly reduced or entirely done away with but also help in boosting the fertility of the soil. For example, salinity management and crop rotation. Failure to implement these practices may expose the soil to various risk which in turn would affect the productivity of crops in the farm hence poor harvest. It may further lead to increased food shortage. From this, it is evident that the sol plays an integral role in human existence and should, therefore, get conserved.
