By Amanda Ramos
Agriculture
has become the main problem as to why fields have had high rates of runoff and
soil loss. Farming practices that prevent vegetation from growing on crop fields
have made soil erosion a major problem on the Mediterranean where apricot orchards
are grown. Finding a less damaging method to the land when growing these crops was
needed to prevent the erosion. To reduce the amount of soil erosion a test was conducted
with three different land managements; Tillage, herbicide, and land covered with
vegetation. They were tested with simulated rainfall at 55 mm h−1 for one hour
on 0.25 m2 circular plots. The outcome of the soil erosion for herbicide plots were
unquestionably higher than the other two ways of managing. Herbicide plots resulted
in 0.91 Mg ha−1 h−1 of lost soil due to erosion. For the tilled fields the rate
of erosion was less than 0.51 Mg ha−1 h−1 and for the covered soil fields the erosion
rate was 0.02 Mg ha−1 h−1. As seen in
the graph below there is a big difference from covered plots and traditional
tilled fields. Making it evident that managing fields by the herbicide method should
be used less. The traditional method used on the land tillage still had a higher
rate of erosion. Not only did the covered field plots have the least amount of
erosion rates but the erosion rate was minimal. Making the covered plots the
ideal method for growing crops in the Mediterranean. So, in conclusion fields
should be left with surrounding vegetation to reduce soil erosion. This research
not only helped find a solution for the Mediterranean land but can also be the
solution for crop fields around the world.
Reference
Keesstra, S., P. Pereira, A. Novara, E.C. Brevik, C.
Azorin-Molina, L. Parras-Alcántara, A. Jordán, and A. Cerdà. 2016. Effects of
soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Sci. Total
Environ. 551-552: 357–366.
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