SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION TRIP

Kanchanaburi, 26-27 November 2016

Members of group:
Fransisca Simanjuntak

5910042416

Chotimah

5910042432

Muhammad Hafizh Dwiyatno

5910042441

Shelina Elsha Primanita

5910042459

Herlangga Saputra

5910042467

Aji Angga Prasetyo

5910042408

DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE

FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
KASETSART UNIVERSITY
2016

I.

Introduction

Soil and water conservation is the prevention of soil loss from erosion or reduced
fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination.
Soil conservation is generally accomplished with a variety of management techniques. Some
of these including managing surface runoff, protecting exposed soil and protecting
downstream watercourses from pollution and sedimentation. Soil conservation can ensure
that soil is its most productive for the food supply and ensures that the habitats of area
wildlife are maintained while protecting water from pollution. Definition of soil conservation
emphasizes the prevention, mitigation, or control of soil erosion and degradation through the
application to land of cultural, vegetative, structural, and land management measures, either
singly or in combination, to enable stability and productivity to be maintained for future
generations. This definition is consistent with global soil conservation literature which assert
(Napier 2004).
Conservation agriculture is generally a "win-win" situation for both farmers and the
environment. Yet many people intimately involved with worldwide food production have
been slow to recognize its many advantages and consider it to be a viable alternative to
conventional agricultural practices that are having obvious negative impact on the
environment. Much of this has to do with the fact that conservation agriculture requires a new
way of thinking about agricultural production in order to understand how one could possibly
attain higher yields with less labor, less water and fewer chemical inputs. In spite of these
challenges, conservation agriculture is spreading to farmers throughout the world as its
benefits become more widely recognized by farmers, researchers, scientists and extensionists
alike.
Soil and water conservation practices are different on each area. They depend on the
condition of soil, vegetation, especially on major effects of erosion. The analysis of soil will
help us to conserve soil and water.

II.

Result

Site 1
Horizon

Depth ( cm )
0 20
20 35
35 55
55 85
> 85

Texture
Loam
Clay Loam
Loam
Loam
Loam

Ph
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5

Site no 1 on is located on subdistrict Don Khoi, District Kamphaeng Saen on Nakhon

Pathom province. Current land use is paddy field. Type of erosion on the site is none. This is
caused by the area is plain area so the runoff velocity on the area is slow and soil erosion
severity is none. Major factors that caused soil erosion is the soil erodibility. Its caused by
the order of soils on the site is inceptisols which can be categorized as young soil and quite
easy to be eroted.
This site is used as paddy field. There are 2 kind of paddy field in Thailand, they are
high land and low land. Paddy field on site 1 is on low land. The way farmers plant the rice is
by broadcasting seeds. The Kamphaeng saen area is plain area which cause no runoff and
erosion happen is low. This condition is suitable to do the flooding condition. From the data
can be observed that the soil texture is clay which could retain water and its suitable for
flooding condition. Maintenance that can be done on site 1 is more about soil fertility. Putting
the plant residue to the paddy field could help to keep soil fertility. Applying organic matter
and soil amandment would help to increase the soil fertility as well. Based on the pH data,
liming is not needed too much for this site.

Site 2
Horizon

Depth ( cm )
0 20
20 35
35 55
55 85
> 85

Texture
Loam
Clay Loam
Loam
Loam
Loam

pH
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5

The second site is located in Sai Yok Subdistrict, Lumsum District, Kanchanaburi
Province. This site is currently used as cassava field and it is used to be a deciduous forest
area. Based on the observation results there are two type of soil erosion shown in this area
which are Sheet and Rill. The soil erosion includes the detachment and transportation process
and is slightly severe. Meanwhile runoff in this area categorized as slow. Major factors that
caused soil erosion on this site in sequence from greater to the least are crops, soil
conservation practice, rainfall, soil erodibility and slope.
The sheet-type erosion occurs on the soil bund and the rill-type occurs on the area
between the bunds. The process of detachment is caused by rainfall that able to hit the soil
surface because the plant coverage is relatively small. The transportation process is related to
the runoff that washed away the detached soil down the slope. The site shows a slightly
severe condition of soil erosion because of those factors mentioned before. The main factors
is expected to be the crops which is related to the plant coverage in this area. The cassava
doesnt grow well at the current time, so there is not enough canopy and the soil surface is
quite open. The condition is even worse because the current plantation area ignore
conservation measure by growing plant across the contour line. Detached soil will be easier
to transport down the slope because of this. The possible recommendation for this site is to
apply organic matter. Adding manure or organic residue to the soil to enhance the soil
structure. Other method is to grow crops across the slope or parallel to the contour line.

Site 3
Horizon
Apg1
Apg2
Btg1
Btg2
Btg3

Depth ( cm )
0 20
20 38
38 52
52 80
80 - 100

Texture
Clay Loam
Clay Loam
Loam
Clay
Clay

pH
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5

Colour
7.5 YR 4/2
7.5 YR 5/1
10 YR 6/8
7.5 YR 5/2
7.5 YR 6/2

On the 26, November 2016, the 3rd site was visited and located at Sangchoto Road,
Tha Sao, SaiYok, Kanchanaburi. We observed the land and determined the erosion type,
process, effects, and soil and water recommendation. The soil is too dry, lack of nutrient and
water with clay texture. The length slope is 5% with the type of soil erosion is sheet and rill.
Sheet erosion is the uniform removal of soil in thin layers by the forces of raindrops and
overland flow. It can be a very effective erosive process because it can cover large areas of
sloping land and go unnoticed for quite some time. Whereas, rill erosion is the removal of
soil by concentrated water running through little streamletsor headcuts. Detachment in a rill
occurs if the sediment in the flow is below the amount the load can transport and if the flow
exceeds the soil's resistance to detachment. As detachment continues or flow increases, rills
will become wider and deeper.
Soil erosion process that happened in the field is detachment and transportation. Soils
is detached by raindrops, runoff happened and then the particle will be transported. Rate of
runoff and soil erosion severity is moderate. There are some factors that cause the erosion
they are, C (crops), LS (length slope), and P (practice). Meanwhile, rainfall and erodibility
dont give big impact.

Soil and water recommendations for this site are:

1. Planting across the slope length because the planting row was wrong. It was opposite the
slope length so the erosion will be occur faster. The easiest way to reduce the rate of
erosion is by changing the plantation row.
2. Chose other crops to grow in this site such as corn, mango tree and tamarind. Cassava is
not suitable with this soil because lack of nutrient and water.
Site 4
Horizon
A
Bt1
Bt2
Bt3
Bt4

Depth ( cm )
0 20
20 30
30 50
50 65
>65

Texture
Clay
Clay
Clay
Clay
Clay

pH
6.5
6
6
6.5
6.5

Location of site no 4 is Sai Yok Yai National Park/WW2 Memorial, Subdistrict Sai
Yok, District Sai Yok, Province Kanchanaburi. The type of vegetation is mixed deciduous
forest. Deciduous forest consist of various deciduous plants. Deciduous plants fall their
leaves once a year. It cause a lot of leaves waste on the soil surface. Deciduous plants have
broadleaves and big canopy.
No soil erosion could happen on this site because the raindrop would be intercepted by
plants canopy. It causes the velocity of rainfall is reduced. Low velocity has less energy.
Detaching energy from raindrop is reduced. Raindrop which has low detachment energy will
cause no erosion. Beside that, this soil is covered by crop residue, leaves, and other plant
waste. This cover protects the soil from detachment. Low detachment causes less runoff. Less
runoff causes no soil erosion. So, runoff is slow, no soil erosion, and no major effect causing
erosion.
This site would be better if keep being used as natural forest. This soil can be great
place for soil and water conservation. Converting this site to be agricultural area will affects
on conservation and leads to deforestation, although it will be good for agricultural activities
because of high organic matter.

Analyzing
Analyzing
soilsoil
properties
type

III.

Site 5
Horizon
Ap
Bk1
Bk2
Bk3

Depth ( cm )
0 10
10 30
30 47
47 70

Texture
Clay
Clay
Clay
Clay

pH
8
7.5
7.5
7.5

Colour
10 YR 4/2
10 YR 3/2
10 YR 4/3
10 YR 5/4

The site number 5 in location (current land use/natural vegetation) is

Horticulture field, ban in Keng Yang, Subdistrict in Sai Yok, District in Sai Yok and
Province in Kanchanaburi. horticultural system used is multiple cropping by planting
corn and radishes, and there are some weeds that grow. soil conditions in the field
was dry, pH 7,5, Macronutrient P fixed by Mg and Ca, P deficiency and not
maintained due to a lot of weeds growing between the main crop and also in this field
the parent material containing CaCO3 and all horizon containing CaCO3 and
malstone. The type of soil erosion on horticultural land is none. Soil erosion
processes in the field is none because this field has high infiltration and good to
absorb the rainfall drop but farmer need to control weed for get high yield and reduce
competition between plants to absorb nutrients from the soil by using manual
techniques.
The field is relatively flat so the erosion not occur in this field. The impact of
runoff in this area is slow because the land is not affected by soil erosion process and

also soil erosion severity is none. Soil and water

conversation recommendation is apply organic
residue that contain micronutrient for soil so radish
and corn can absorb nutrient for growth not only
macronutrient but micronutrient is important for
plant growth, apply ferltilizer in small amount but
frequently that is for macronutrient plant such as
organic fertilizer from compost. Organic manure,
animal manure and need contol weeds using manual
techniques or organic pesticide.
The picture beside is an activity analyze soil and water conservation on
horticultural land in Kanchanaburi province. The analysis is divided into two stages:
analyzing the impact of soil fertility and soil erosion.

Site 6
Horizon
Apg
Btg1

Depth ( cm )
0 30
30 40

Texture
pH
Sandy Loam 6.5
Sandy Clay 7.5

Btg2
Btg3
Btg4

40 60
60 90
90 100

Loam
Sandy Clay
Sandy Clay
Sa

Colour
10 YR 3/2

7
7
7

In site number 6 the land is planting for cassava. The site no 6 is located in
Subdistrict Lat Ya, District Mueang, Province Kanchanaburi. Cassava field usually has ban to
support the plant growth. Type of erosion that occur in cassava field in this site are sheet
erosion and rill erosion. Sheet erosion that caused by raindrops. It removes soil in thin layers
from sloping land. Sheet erosion usually occur in the cassava ban. Different with sheet
erosion, riil erosion occurs when soil is removed by water from little streamlets that run
through land with poor surface draining. Rills can often be found in between crop rows. Riil
erosion usually occur in between cassava ban, but in this site the riil erosion occur in small
amount.
The soil erosion process in this site are detachment and transportation. Detachment is
caused by raindrops. The raindrops splash the soil surface and cause erosion. Transportation
is the nutrient in the soil lifted up from the soil and so does the material in the soil is
transported to another place. Runoff occur slow and the soil erosion severity is slight due to
the length slope only 1% in this site. Major effect that caused the erosion in site no 6 is crop
because cassava plant has small canopy, so the rainfall can detach the soil surface and cause
the erosion. Besides, the crop row and the ban between plant also cause the soil erosion more
severely. The recommendation of soil and water conservation for this site is apply organic
residue after harvesting such as stem, roots, and leaves of cassava after harvesting.
Conservation agriculture does not just mean not tilling the soil and then doing
everything else the same. It is a holistic system with interactions among households, crops,
and livestock since rotations and residues have many uses within households; the result is a
sustainable agriculture system that meets the needs of farmers (Sayre and Hobbs 2004).

IV.

Conclusion

The conclusions of this trip are:

1. Each site has different soil and water conservation recommendation, not all site have
to be agricultural area.
2. First site is paddy field. It has no erosion. It because the soil is submerged by water.
Runoff and energy of rainfall is low. Soil and water conservation recommendation for
this site is input organic matter.
3. Second site is cassava field. Erosion is low. Recommendation for soil and water
conservation is apply organic matter to increase the ability of soil to absorb water and
reduce runoff.
4. Third site is cassava field. It has rill erosion. The recommendation is plant another
crop, such as tamarind, corn, or mango because this soil is too lack of nutrient for
cassava growth.
5. Fourth site is mixed deciduous forest. It has no erosion because of richness of soil
cover. This area is better to be apply as natural forest rather than agricultural area.
6. Fifth site is cassava field. It has low erosion, the major effects of soil erosion are
detachment and transportation. The recommendation is apply plant residue to the soil
surface.

V.

Reference

Napier T 2004. Soil and Water Conservation Policies and Programs: Successes and Failures.
CRC Press: New York.
Sayre, K.D., and P.R. Hobbs. 2004. The Raised-Bed System of Cultivation for Irrigated
Production Conditions. In R. Columbus, Ohio, and New York, USA: Ohio State
University and Marcel Dekker, Inc. Pp. 337-55.