<, "Contour Farming." Equipment used in planting, cultivating, and harvesting has to be turned on... 4. Contour plowing is a method of plowing along the contours of the land in order to minimize soil erosion. The above runoff induced 4.7 t ha−1 soil loss from permanent bed, 7.6 t ha−1 from terwah and 19.5 t ha−1 from traditional ploughing. Contour ploughing is a soil conservation technology that is practiced throughout Grenada to mitigate the negative consequences of natural disasters on soil quality and composition. [4] Contour farming is considered an active form of sustainable agriculture. (5.15) Make a chart. Conservation tillage, contour cultivation, and deep plowing. Greater Income, Greater Yield Intercropping offers greater financial returns for a farmer. Contour ploughing helps to reduce soil erosion. The practice is effective only on slopes with between 2% and 10% gradient and when rainfall does not exceed a certain amount within a certain period. The rows form slow water run-off during rainstorms to prevent soil erosion and allow the water time to settle into the soil. Compared with straight-line planting, the practice reduces fertilizer loss and increases crop yields on uneven terrain. Disadvantages:High soil moisture loss, destroys soil structure, compacts wet soil <, Learn how and when to remove this template message, http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/wq/publications/Final_FactSheets/ContourFarmingCrop330.pdf, "Tillage erosion: a review of controlling factors and implications for soil quality", http://extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide/cm/sec1/sec11e, "Organic Farming for Crop Improvement and Sustainable Agriculture in the Era of Climate Change", http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/151708/, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/135192/contour-farming, NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 330-Contour Farming, http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_11.html, "Modelling the effect of support practices (P-factor) on the reduction of soil erosion by water at European scale", American Experience page on the dust bowl, Encyclopædia Britannica page on contour farming, Purdue University article on contour farming, Natural Resources Conservation Service page on sustainable farming, Manitoba Soil Conservation Resource Manual, Priority One. Excellent incorporation. Rain water in these furrows will thus flow sideways along the falling "contour" line. Disadvantages of Intercropping system are: Yield decreases as the crops differ in their competitive abilities; Management of I/c having different cultural practices seems to … [2] Tillage erosion is the soil movement and erosion by tilling a given plot of land. "Contour Plowing & Terraces during the 1930s Depression." What are the Banaue Rice Terraces? Typically farmers break up hardpan up with a subsoiler, which acts as a long, sharp knife to slice through the hardened layer of soil deep below the surface. It increases the number of "soil-eating" earthworms (endogea) but is detrimental to vertical-dwelling earthworms (anecic). Ed. [8] Reducing fertilizer loss not only saves the farmer time and money, but it also decreases risk of harming regional freshwater systems. Mouldboard ploughing, in cold and temperate climates, no deeper than 20 cm, aerates the soil by loosening it. On steeper slopes and areas with greater rainfall, a procedure known as strip cropping is used with contour farming to provide additional protection. It controls many enemies of crops (slugs, crane flies, seedcorn maggots-bean seed flies, borers). 100 million acres [405,000 km²] now in crops have lost all or most of the topsoil; 125 million acres [506,000 km²] of land now in crops are rapidly losing topsoil. They’re also praised for their durability. Living History Farm., 2003. This was one of the main procedures promoted by the US Soil Conservation Service (the current Natural Resources Conservation Service) during the 1930s. Importantly, the technique also significantly reduces soil erosion, fertilizer loss, and overall makes farming less energy and resource intensive under most circumstances. The US Department of Agriculture established the Soil Conservation Service in 1935 during the Dust Bowl when it became apparent that soil erosion was a huge problem along with desertification. Contour farming is farming with row patterns that run nearly level around the hill -- not up and down the hill. This method has disadvantages are: 1. Furrows that run up and down a slope form a channel that can quickly carry away seeds and topsoil. Some of the methods used to date include windbreaks, planting cove… You should consider the rewards and challenges before you decide either way. This reduces the flow of water (runoff) across the land surface, thus reducing erosion. With no-tillage farming, there may be an increase in weed growth that leads many farmers to increase their application of herbicide on their crops. Terrace (Step) farming Inca; Advantages and Disadvantages agrifarmingtips.com. makes use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gullies during times of heavy precipitation, allowing more time for the water to settle into the soil. "Tillage Erosion." And the biggest disadvantage of agroforestry is the huge amount of time required to reap the yield products. . 2. List of Disadvantages of Agroforestry. Soil erosion prevention practices such as this can drastically decrease negative effects associated with soil erosion such as reduced crop productivity, worsened water quality, lower effective reservoir water levels, flooding, and habitat destruction. Increased moisture levels in the soil may lead to an increased risk of fungal crop diseases [sc:1]. Terrace cultivation, or terrace farming, is one of the oldest types of land and water resource management for large-scale farming. Dams hold back sediments that rivers carry. Contour plowing is the farming practice of plowing across a slope following its elevation contour lines. It controls many perennial weeds and pushes back the growth of other weeds until the following spring. Table 1. Contour plowing is also promoted in countries with similar rainfall patterns to the United States such as western Canada and Australia. How does sustainable agriculture aid in soil conservation? Longsheng Rice Terrace definition/meaning staticflickr.com. Contour plowing forms ridges, slows the water flow and helps save precious topsoil. Contour farming, the practice of tilling sloped land along lines of consistent elevation in order to conserve rainwater and to reduce soil losses from surface erosion. However, the Romans preferred cultivation in straight furrows and this practice became standard.[6]. Contour plowing (or contour ploughing) or contour farming is the farming practice of plowing across a slope following its elevation contour lines. It serves the following benefits: 1. <, Reinhardt, Claudia, and Bill Ganzel. Major soil erosion. Before polyurethane edges came along, rubber was the only viable alternative. It incorporates crop residues, solid manures, limestone and commercial fertilizers along with some oxygen. “To become aware in time when young of the advantages of age; to maintain the advantages of youth in old age: both are pure fortune.”—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832). But, rubber’s ability to contour to its plowing surface is its real claim to fame. Another disadvantage of not tilling is slow soil warming on poorly drained soils. Farming is one of the oldest and sustainable human activities. comparing and contrasting differences- contour plowing prevents the topsoil from rolling down hills when it rains when conservation plowing takes place the dead crops get left behind to help hold the soil in place. Farming sites are often classified into five levels: insensitive, mild, moderate, high and extreme, depending on the regions soil sensitivity. In contour plowing, the ruts made by the plow run perpendicular rather than parallel to the slopes, generally furrows that curve around the land an… 15 2. [1] In contour plowing, the ruts made by the plow run perpendicular rather than parallel to the slopes, generally furrows that curve around the land and are level. Web. Soil erosion caused from heavy rain can encourage the development of rills and gullies which carry excess nutrients into freshwater systems through the process of eutrophication[9]. Contour Farming . Drawbacks to contour plowing have caused it to be less widely used than conventional tillage methods. Encyclopædia Britannica. This can lead to large scale desertification which can permanently transform a formerly productive landscape to an arid one that becomes increasingly intensive and expensive to farm.[7]. This method is also known for preventing tillage erosion. (with pictures) wisegeek.com. 1. Chisel: Less winter wind erosion from roughened surface. University of Hawaii at Manoa. Contour ploughing also limits the release of nutrients and particulates into nearby streams and river systems. List, define, and describe the various methods of traditional sustainable agriculture: contour plowing, windbreaks, perennial crops, terracing, no-till agriculture, crop rotation, and strip cropping. Together We Can Beat Global Warming, Looking after our land - Soil and Water Conservation in Dryland Africa, BBC News - Sahara desert frontiers turn green, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Contour_plowing&oldid=1000927648, Articles lacking in-text citations from September 2009, Articles with dead external links from August 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 17 January 2021, at 11:39. Fish Substitute variety Atlantic cod Chilean sea bass … Contour Farming #330 - … Increased soil retention encourages root development in crops, and increased water filtration promotes better water quality. List of Advantages of Intercropping. The Soil Conservation Service worked with state governments and universities with established agriculture programs such as the University of Nebraska to promote the method to farmers. Contour maps are extremely useful for various engineering works: A civil engineer studies the contours and finds out the nature of the ground to identify. Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines. Requires protected head ditch- es and waste-water ditches. Contour Farming is done across the slope and is one of the best methods for small scale as well as large scale farmers . [5], The Phoenicians first developed the practice of contour farming and spread it throughout the Mediterranean. One disadvantages of plowing is major soil erosion. By drawing the section in the plan, it is possible to find out profile of the ground along that line. Over-ploughing can lead to the formation of hardpan. By doing so, it reduces nitrogen losses by volatilization, accelerates mineralization and increases short-term nitrogen availability for transformation of organic matter into humus. ( See Chapter 7 in Priority One History of Twentieth Century Soil Conservation and Keyline.). Then these sediments cannot form floodplains and beaches. Contour cultivation follows the contour lines of sloping fields. The last disadvantage of ridge planting is creating and maintaining ridges. USDA NRCS Practice (330), Web. Contour stripcropping is crop rotation and contouring combined in equal-width strips of corn or soybeans planted on the contour and alternated with strips of oats, grasses, or legumes. At one end of a contour the slope of the land will always be steeper than at the other. What is the difference between contour ploughing and ... quoracdn.net. ... What are the disadvantages of contour farming? This includes over 3000 lettuce, lots of chard, spring onions, beetroot, onions, shallots, spinach, parsley amongst others. Suitable site for the project works to be taken up. Overall, contour … http://cropwatch.unl.edu/tillage/advdisadv. Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines. It is performed by following the natural contours when tilling the soil, planting and cultivating. These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gullies during times of heavy precipitation, allowing more time for the water to settle into the soil. Keyline cultivation utilizes this "off contour" drift in cultivating furrows to control the movement of rain water for the benefit of the land. Thus when plowing parallel runs paralleling any contour the plow furrows soon deviate from a true contour. Encyclopædia Britannica., 2013. Contour ploughing mitigates soil erosion by ploughing across a slope, along elevation lines. As time passed, man discovered different ways of tilling and farming on different landscapes, including slopes that are notorious for soil erosion. It facilitates seeding with a lighter seeder. HOME Soil erosion due to improper land and plough utilization is possible. Keesha likes fish but has heard that some fish are endangered. Lack of access to equipment, funding, or training sometimes take their toll. Requires equipment turns on the field. they both are conservation methods for soil sources- . Since then, contour plowing and other forms of conservation tillage have been reinstituted. Yeomans was the first to appreciate the significance of this phenomenon. Media related to Contour farming at Wikimedia Commons, "Contour Farming for Cropland in the Pacific." [12] Contour farming is applied in certain European countries such as Belgium, Italy, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Spain in areas with higher than 10% slope. Agronomy Guide (Penn State Extension). Go to the National Geographic Web site to find some ocean-friendly substitutes for her seafood choices. Conservation tillage, such as stubble mulch tillage, minimum tillage, reduced tillage, and no-till, leaves at least 30% of the soil surface covered by plant residue after planting to reduce erosion and surface runoff. Plows turn up the top soil and cuts existing root systems exposing the land to the drying sun, wind and the potential of being washed away by heavy rains. Ploughing leaves very little crop residue on the surface, which otherwise could reduce both wind and water erosion. Increase Risk of Fungal Diseases. [3] A similar practice is contour bunding where stones are placed around the contours of slopes. Web. Well-tilled seedbed. Strip cropping is a method of farming used when a slope is too steep or too long, or otherwise, when one does not have an alternative method of preventing soil erosion. [10] Contour farming is most effective when used with other soil conservation methods like strip cropping, terrace farming, and the use of cover crops. It accelerates soil warming and water evaporation in spring because of the lesser quantity of residues on the soil surface. Some farmers may not have been fully aware of erosion damage and prevention. Contour bunding has been widely adopted in Burkina Faso after it was suggested by British Oxfam worker Bill Hereford in the beginning of the 1980s. [11] The proper combination of such farming methods can be determined by various climatic and soil conditions of that given area. Advantages and Disadvantages of Selected Tillage Systems; System: Major advantages: Major disadvantages: Plow: Suited for poorly drained soils. In contour farming, establish a narrow, permanent strip of grass along each key contour line to avoid having to lay out new key lines every year. Advantages: Less erosion and less fuel and labor required. This can often concentrate water in a ways that exacerbates erosion instead of reducing it. It erases wheel tracks and ruts caused by harvesting equipment. Contour plowing was a method of plowing furrows that follow the curves of the land rather than straight up and down slopes. However, disadvantages of irrigation include increased leakage of water,makes local temperature damp, and has high beginning expenses. <, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Ed. University of Hawai‘i - College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Highest fuel and labor costs. There are advantages and disadvantages of intercropping. The extent of the problem was such that the 1934 "Yearbook of Agriculture" noted that Approximately 35 million acres [142,000 km²] of formerly cultivated land have essentially been destroyed for crop production. Alternatives to ploughing, such as the no till method, have the potential to actually build soil levels and humus, and may be suitable to smaller, more intensively cultivated plots, and to farming on poor, shallow or degraded soils which will only be further damaged by ploughing. "Desertification." 1. Timeliness considerations. Over-ploughing can lead to the formation of hardpan. . 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