Soil erosion issues in agriculture

346 Pages·2011·26.195 MB·English

by  Danilo Godone, Silvia Stanchi (editors)

SOIL EROSION ISSUES
IN AGRICULTURE

Edited by Danilo Godone and Silvia Stanchi
Soil Erosion Issues in Agriculture
Edited by Danilo Godone and Silvia Stanchi

Published by InTech
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First published September, 2011
Printed in Croatia

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Soil Erosion Issues in Agriculture, Edited by Danilo Godone and Silvia Stanchi
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-307-435-1
free online editions of InTech
Books and Journals can be found at
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Contents

Preface IX
Part 1 Case Studies 1
Chapter 1 Soil Degradation 3
Rajendra Hegde, A. Natarajan,
L G K Naidu and Dipak Sarkar
Chapter 2 Water Erosion from Agricultural
Land Under Atlantic Climate 41
Montserrat Valcárcel, Antonio Paz González,
Jorge Dafonte, José Manuel Mirás-Avalos,
Jorge Paz-Ferreiro, Ildegardis Bertol and Eva Vidal Vázquez
Chapter 3 Micro-Topographic Characteristics
in Coordinate with Surface Erosion 59
Qingfeng Zhang, Longshan Zhao, Faqi Wu and Jian Wang
Chapter 4 Losses of Soil and Nutrients from
a Purplish Soil on Slopping Lands as Affected
by Rain Intensity and Farming Practices 71
Chaowen Lin, Chunyan Luo,
Liangyu Pang and Shihua Tu
Part 2 Vineyards 87
Chapter 5 Soil Erosion Aspects
in Agricultural Ecosystem 89
Elena Comino, Paolo Marengo and Valentina Rolli
Chapter 6 Evaluation of Erosion Intensity
and Some of Its Consequences in Vineyards
from Two Hilly Environments Under
a Mediterranean Type of Climate, Italy 113
Giuseppe Corti, Eugenio Cavallo, Stefania Cocco,
Marcella Biddoccu, Giorgia Brecciaroli and Alberto Agnelli
VI Contents

Part 3 Dry Environments 161
Chapter 7 Hydrological Effects of Different Soil Management
Practices in Mediterranean Areas 163
Giuseppe Bombino, Vincenzo Tamburino,
Demetrio Antonio Zema and Santo Marcello Zimbone
Chapter 8 Planting System on Permanent Beds; A Conservation
Agriculture Alternative for Crop Production
in the Mexican Plateau 183
Agustin Limon-Ortega
Chapter 9 The Significance of Soil Erosion on Soil Fertility Under
Different Tillage Systems and Granitic Sandy Soils in
Semi-Arid Zimbabwe: A Comparison of Nutrient Losses
Due to Sheet Erosion, Leaching and Plant Uptake 207
Adelaide Munodawafa
Chapter 10 Effect of Slope Position and Land-Use Changes
to Bio- Physical Soil Properties in Nakasongola
Pastoral Rangeland Areas, Central Uganda 241
M. Buyinza and M. Nabalegwa
Part 4 Erosion Control 255
Chapter 11 Pastoral Hill Slope Erosion in New Zealand and
the Role of Poplar and Willow Trees in Its Reduction 257
Ian McIvor, Grant Douglas, John Dymond,
Garth Eyles and Michael Marden
Chapter 12 Erosion Control in Furrow Irrigation
Using Polyacrylamide 279
Carlos Chávez, Carlos Fuentes and Fernando Brambila
Chapter 13 Soil Erosion Control on Arable Lands
from North-East Romania 295
Bucur Daniel, Jitareanu Gerard and Ailincai Costica
Chapter 14 Terracing as a Measure of Soil Erosion Control
and Its Effect on Improvement of Infiltration
in Eroded Environment 315
Marcin K. Widomski

Preface

Erosion is a natural process among soil dynamics concerning the movement of soil
portions and their deposition in a different location. The intensity of particles removal
is variable and leads to different environmental impacts. Soil formation rate is highly
slower than any erosion phenomena, this fact suggest that erosion control and
mitigation practices should be adopted in order to preserve soil as a crucial
environmental resource.
Several natural events as water or atmospheric phenomena trigger erosion processes.
Moreover anthropic activities, like inappropriate agricultural practices, deforestation,
overgrazing, forest fires and construction activities, may exert a remarkable impact on
erosion processes. The lack of appropriate knowledge of agricultural best practices or
their disregarding, frequently due to the need of providing food in overpopulated
areas, leads to the endangering of soil equilibrium. This aspect, also historically
proven, is worsened in developing countries by critical socio-economical conditions
and unfavourable climatic conditions. More generally, unsustainable land
management policies, not only concerning agricultural sector, are key factors in soil
endangering.
Moreover, in the current climate change scenario, weather related variables are
increasing their impact on soil erosion; directly, by the amplification of their
intensity (severe rainfalls, strong winds…), or indirectly, by worsening
environmental conditions (droughts, heat waves…) thus leading to replace spoiled
crops by the exploitation of marginal areas or forcing large human settlements to
move towards more hospitable areas and available resources; in the worst case this
migrations aim to settle in natural areas in order to acquire more space for moving
population and for increasing cultivable land surface. This practice causes the
reduction of natural areas such as forests, shrubland and consequently the
simplification of landscape structure; moreover it influences water cycle and
availability in the colonized area.
Soil erosion is a continuous process in Earth cycle and, if not properly faced, may
conduct to extreme environmental consequences, like soil degradation o soil loss,
threatening human activities and safety. In mountain and hillside areas soil erosion is
X Preface

an instability factor which may cause slope failures that can put in danger human
settlements and infrastructures, from the agricultural point of view, extreme soil
erosion may reduce nutrient availability thus reducing crop yield and causing land
abandonment. Excessively impoverished soil, instead of evolving in other vegetation
covers, could be involved in desertification processes.
This book, in its fourteen chapters, deals with several aspects of soil erosion,
focusing on its connection with the agricultural world. Chapters’ topics are various,
ranging from irrigation practices to soil nutrient, land use changes or tillage
methodologies.
The book is subdivided into four sections grouping different facets of the topic. In the
first one several case studies are presented with the aim of introducing soil erosion
issue in the world; in fact, chapters come from India, Spain and China. Each one
present soil erosion features in a different geographical and climatic context, and
various study approaches. The other three sections focus on a detail among the vast
topic.
Section number two covers a typical cultivation, vineyard. An agricultural practice
limited to a confined geographical milieu but characterized by a remarkable economic
impact. The correct agronomical management of vineyards is a key factor in soil
erosion reduction, in hilly environments, allowing, contemporarily, to obtain
profitable yields from vines, as quality production is required by market, instead of
mass production. The two chapters describe experimental approaches applied to
vineyards located in Italy.
The third section theme is a geoclimatic one, since it concerns dry environments and
their relationship with soil erosion theme management. The section includes chapters
coming from different areas such as Africa (Uganda and Zimbabwe), South America
(Mexico) and Europe (Italy) covering Arid, Semiarid and Mediterranean
environments.
In the last section the erosion control matter is investigated. Chapters from various
countries evaluate erosion control practices like the employment of afforestation to
reduce grazing impact or the role of terracing, tillage and irrigation practice in soil
erosion control, in cultivated areas.
In conclusion, this book approaches the soil erosion theme, concentrated on
agriculture world. Certainly, due to the extent of the subject, the book is not a
comprehensive collection of soil erosion studies, but it aims to supply a sound set of
scientific works, concerning the topic. It analyzes different facets of the issue, with
various methodologies, and offers a wide series of case studies, solutions, practices, or