Bito-on, Artchiel B.

BSABE 2

SOIL: MANAGEMENT

Today soil erosion is almost universally recognized as serious threat to man’s

well-being, if not to his very existence, and this is shown by the fact that most
governments outside Europe give active support to programmes of soil conservation.
But it is relevant, before making any assessment of present knowledge of erosion, to
consider the development of this science which was almost unknown 80 years ago, and
now enjoys world-wide attention.
The Geographical Distribution of Erosion
The two main agents of erosions are wind and water,
Erosion by water, the factor which almost influences soil erosion by water, and by
water is mean annual rainfall. In regions of very low rainfall there can naturally be little
erosion caused by rain. However, it is not the only the amount of rainfull that matters,
but also the kind of rain.
Erosion by wind, there are two main conditions which must exist before wind
erosion can be a serious problem. First, only dry soil blows, so the vulnerable regions
are those with a low mean annual rainfall. Secondly, large scale movements can occur
only where are steady prevailing winds at all levels from the upper air down to the
ground.

BENNETH, H. H. 1930 Soil Conservation, McGraw-Hill, New York

RECOMMENDED EROSION CONTROL AND SOIL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

During erosion, soil particles are detached from the ground surface by the forces
of wind, water, ice, and gravity. The specific types of erosion associated with flowing
water and blowing wind are listed in the glossary.
Erosion control practices protect the soil surface against erosion mechanisms
such as wind and water using soil stabilization BMPs. The goal of erosion control is to
keep the soil in its original location. Erosion control practices are preferred over
sediment control practices because they are a preventative measure focusing on the
cause of sedimentation.
 The orderly arrangement of all the factors affecting erosion into the universal soil
loss equation provides an opportunity to compare the relative importance of each factor
in the control of erosion. Some items affect the amount of erosion but are outside man’s
control.
Erosion Control by Good Farming
It is remarkable how often the management required for the good erosion control
coincides with intensive, efficient, profitable farming. There is no substance at all in the
fear sometimes felt by farmers that conservation farming means restricted production
or uneconomic practices.
This link between reduced erosion and improved farming can best be
demonstrated by some example, which is the case of growing tobacco in the sub-
tropics. The growing season for flue-cured tobacco is shorter than the rainy season, and
the alternatives open to the grower are either to plant early and have the crop matured
and harvested well before the end of the harvesting coincides with the end of the rains.
In either case there will be a period either at the beginning or at the end when there is
poor vegetation cover and so high risk of erosion.

NORMAN HUDSON, Soil Conservation: Second Edition, Cornell University Press,

Ithaca, New York.

Established Management Practices to Maintain Soil Productivity

To improve soil structure and biological health, reduce erosion, and increase efficiency
of water and fertilizer use:
 Mulching with natural materials and plastic.
 Leaving crop residue.
 Application of manure and biosolids.
 Incorporation of cover crops in the rotation cycle
 A.groforestry.
 Contouring of hedge rows.
 Terracing and engineering structures.
 Precision farming.
 Conservation tillage and nontilling.
 Controlled grazing.
 Improved pasture species.
  Controlled use of irrigation.
 Land-use planning and land-tenure reform.
To improve soil nutrient budget:
 Integrated nutrient management.
 Biological nitrogen fixation.
 Judicious use of chemical fertilizers.

During erosion, soil particles are detached from the ground surface by the forces of
wind, water, ice, and gravity. The specific types of erosion associated with flowing water
and blowing wind are listed in the glossary. Erosion control practices protect the soil
surface against erosion mechanisms such as wind and water using soil stabilization
BMPs. The goal of erosion control is to keep the soil in its original location.

Erosion control practices are preferred over sediment control practices because they
are a preventative measure focusing on the cause of sedimentation.
Abeyratne, E. L. F. 1956.Trop Agriculturalist 112:191-229

IDENTIFY WAYS TO IMPROVE SOIL FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

In particular, we need to commit to increasing soil organic matter levels and
horticultural soils by at least 20% on existing levels. This will have multiple far ranging
benefits, and can be achieved if both farmers and the government address the following
seven areas:

1. Increase the amount of plant and animal matter going back onto fields.
2. Improve soil health monitoring.
3. Encourage soil organisms – both those that build up soil and those that release
nutrients.
4. Cover up bare soil with continuous plant cover.
5. Bring more trees onto farmland.
6. Reduce soil compaction from machinery and livestock.
7. Design crop rotations to improve soil health.
Organic farms already practice all seven of these areas, with soil health being at
the very heart of organic practices. Increased support for organic farming should
therefore be a key part of the solution and will go some way to meeting our soil organic
matter target.

INNOVATION IN SOIL MANAGEMENT

Increasing land pressure to improve the socioeconomic standard of the people,
decreasing availability of arable land, and government support to development of peat
land have been encouraged in some countries. Studies showed that some of the
requirements for land clearing include: comparisons on techniques for land clearing and
cost estimates; description of the amount of woody debris based on various parameters
— measured and calculated weight and volume of biomass; and effects of clearing on
wood decomposition process and surface subsidence, plant/arthropod/microbial/fish
diversity, carbon dioxide flux, and water pollution.

Other soil conservation studies in Asia include:

tree crops for steep land conservation; soil erosion measurement and control
techniques and identification of controllable and non-controllable factors; vegetation
engineering methods for erosion control and slope stabilization such as staking,
wattling, spray seeding with net placement, cave vegetation, and artificial scattering
seeding.
For technology adoption, farmers need to be involved in the testing. This is
exactly what the project allowed in relation to the three core aspects of
Conservation Agriculture – zero tillage, crop rotation and continuous ground cover.

Changes in agriculture and its context (e.g. markets, policies, natural environment)
challenge the farming community to continuously innovate their business (Daane 2010).
“Innovation means putting ideas, knowledge, and technology to work in a manner that
brings about a significant improvement in performance or product quality” (Asenso-
Okyere & Davis 2009).
A similar definition was proposed by Adams (1983): “Agricultural innovations are
defined as new ideas, practices or techniques which provide the means of achieving
sustained increase in farm productivity and income.” Adoption, then, is “a mental
decision by farmers to make full use of new idea(s) as the best cause of action” (Ornan
et al., 2010).

Now it can be hardly claimed that reduced tillage, the use of organic inputs, crop
rotation, green manures, etc. are innovations. Such practices are as old as agriculture
itself. Their adoption on a given farm, however, always requires specific tinkering to
make them fit within the current context (climate, soil type, cropping system, scale,
mechanization, etc.). It is this process of resolving local difficulties or barriers that we –
in this project - refer to as ‘innovation’. The resulting innovations are assemblies - of
ideas, instruments, germplasm, instructions and procedures, software, tips and tricks,
etc. - that enable the adoption of better soil management practices. In the end, of
course, we do recognize that our distinction between existing practices (MPs, BMPs)
and innovations remains somewhat arbitrary.
Innovations may sprout from farming practice itself as well as from focused research
efforts. Innovations for end-users are not often covered in the scientific literature. We
relied, therefore, on a mixed approach in compiling this report: inquiries with experiment
stations, advisors and their knowledge platforms, commercial parties as well as
scientists. As a consequence, not all information contained here could be scientifically
validated by the project team. However, we include in all fact sheets the key references
that have served as our sources.

https://knowledge4food.net/research-project/arf1-soil-innovations/