Soil erosion control
Soil erosion is a process by which top soil is carried away from one place to another.
Agent of soil erosion.
- Water Animal
- Wind Human being
Agriculture Notes Grade 6-Types of soil erosion
o Splash erosion o Rill erosion o Sheet erosion o Gully erosion
Splash erosion
- Splash erosion occurs when rain drop hit bare ground the soil is broken into small particles and then is splashed.
- Splash erosion mainly occurs during heavy rainfall that falls for a short duration. Ø Soil erosion causes more damage to soil on sloped land than flat land.
Splash erosion is also called raindrops erosion because it results from the effect of raindrops on the soil surface.
Sheet erosion.
- Sheet erosion occurs when a thin layer of soil is removed uniformly by surface ran off on a flat gradually sloping bare land.
- It occurs when there is heavy rainfall that falls for a short duration.
- The heavy raindrops splash soil particles while the surface ran off carries the fine soil particles, carrying most of the nutrients.
Indicators of sheet erosion.
- Stones below the top soil are exposed
- Root plant including crop, grass and trees are exposed
- Eroded soil and crop remains are deposited at the lower area of the slop.
- Crop yields reduce season after season because of declining soil fertility
- Sheet erosion is common on a recently cultivated land situated on smooth gently slops.
- Rill erosion
- Rill erosion occurs in places where continuous sheet erosion has taken place the runoff carrying soil particle concentrates in small channels or rills down slope.
- Several small rills join from a large rill.
- The rill can reach a depth of up to 30cm.
- Rill erosion can be observed on a freshly cultivated piece of land experiences heavy rainfall.
- The rills can be removed by farm tools such as hoes and jembes
- It can also be observed in overgrazed land and paths created due to frequent by human being.
Gully Erosion
- Gullies are long deep ditches with steep sides.
- They are mainly formed on steep slopes where soil taken place for a long time
- Gullies are not easy to remove by means of normal using jembes and hoes.
heat loss is minimal.
- It conserves more moisture than flat or raised beds.
- Preparing a sunken bed.
- Tools.
- Shovel A well decomposed compost
- A rake or farmyard manure
- Steps
- Measure the plot of land 1 m wide and any desirable length Clear the vegetation on the measured plot.
- Dig out the top fertile soil and keep it aside.
- Dig out the subsoil and heap it on the edges to make an embankment or dyke
- Mix the topsoil kept aside with some well rotten manure, for every one wheelbarrows of top soil, add one wheelbarrow of manure
- Return the moisture in the trench leaving a depression of about 10 cm Water the seedbed to make the soil moist.
- The sunken bed is now ready to be used as a seedbed
- Note: you may also use the sunken bed as a nursery bed to raise young vegetable seedlings before you transfer them to the seedbed.
- Shallow pits.
- The pits trap runoff and thus increase water infiltration into the soil.
- Preparing shallow pits.
- Select a suitable site in the school compound
- Dig a pit 60cm×60cm×60cm. Keep the top soil separately.
- Put light organic at the bottom of the pit, i.e. dry grass and leaves 4. Add a layer of top soil mixed decomposed manure.
- 5. Leave a depression about 15cm for collection of water and a place for mulching
- Note: Subsoil should be placed at the lower side for slopping land.
Agriculture Notes Grade 6- Living better with wild animals.
We can live better with wild animals by:
Building fences to keep away wild animals. Using innovative light to control wild animals Making a bird feeding table.
Constructing thorny fences.
Establishing safe traps. Making deflectors.
