Land & Soil Management

Soil is vital for plants as it is not merely a support system, but a complex world from which the roots obtain water and other required elements. Soil is inhabited by small animals, insects, microorganisms (e.g., fungi and bacteria) which all influence the plant life.The major components of soil are solids (minerals and organic matter), liquids (water and dissolved substances), gases (mostly oxygen and carbon dioxide) and contains living organisms. Soil provides nutrients, recycles/filters water, stores water and is the basis of life on earth.

However, soil erosion is increasingly taking place,and large parts of the Himalayas suffer from erosion by wind and by water. The most important cause of soil erosion is destruction of forests and other vegetation from sloping lands. Vegetation acts as a protective cover against the forces of wind and water, protecting the soil from being washed or blown away and preserving the physical and-hydrographic balance of nature. When the protective cover of forests is destroyed, rainwater flows down the slopes unimpeded at great speed and carries with it large quantities of soil and their dense mat of undergrowth. Besides the destruction of forests, faulty land use practices such as overgrazing, failure to practice measures as ploughing along the contours on sloping lands, crop rotation and growing of cover crops are also causes of erosion. The cumulative effect is the reducing productive capacity and nutrient composition of farmlands.Therefore, management of soil entails 2 aspects~ a) restricting soil erosion- by wind and by water; b) enhancing the nutrients in the soil.

Shelterbelts

There are several key elements to effective shelterbelt design. The elements that need to be considered are height, length, density, location, number of rows and the species to be used..

Check Dams and Gabion walls

Check dams have traditionally been implemented in two main environments: across channel bottoms and on hilly slopes. Check dams are used primarily to control water velocity..

Earth basins with infiltration pits

Earth basins are square or diamond shaped small collection areas, constructed to capture and hold all rainwater that falls on the field. Earth basins are suitable in arid and semi-arid areas..