(a) List four soil conservation practices…

Question 1 Report

(a) List four soil conservation practices that can be used to control erosion on a gentle slope. [4 marks]

(b) Explain how each of the practices you have listed in 4(a) can be used to conserve the soil. [12 marks]

Answer

(a) Four soil conservation practices to control erosion on a gentle slope

(b) How each practice conserves the soil

Contour ploughing: The ridges and furrows are made across the slope (along the contour). They act as barriers that trap running water, slow it down and encourage it to soak into the soil instead of washing the topsoil away.
Cover cropping/mulching: The cover crop or mulch shields the soil surface from the direct impact of raindrops, reduces the speed of run-off, holds the soil particles together with roots and adds organic matter that improves soil structure and water retention.
Strip cropping: Erosion-permitting crops (row crops) are alternated in strips with close-growing, soil-protecting crops across the slope. The protective strips slow down run-off and trap soil washed from the open strips, reducing the total soil lost.
Crop rotation: Growing different crops, including cover/leguminous crops, in sequence keeps the ground continuously covered, improves soil structure and organic matter, and reduces the exposure and loss of bare soil to erosion.

Answer Details

(a) Four soil conservation practices to control erosion on a gentle slope

(b) How each practice conserves the soil

Contour ploughing: The ridges and furrows are made across the slope (along the contour). They act as barriers that trap running water, slow it down and encourage it to soak into the soil instead of washing the topsoil away.
Cover cropping/mulching: The cover crop or mulch shields the soil surface from the direct impact of raindrops, reduces the speed of run-off, holds the soil particles together with roots and adds organic matter that improves soil structure and water retention.
Strip cropping: Erosion-permitting crops (row crops) are alternated in strips with close-growing, soil-protecting crops across the slope. The protective strips slow down run-off and trap soil washed from the open strips, reducing the total soil lost.
Crop rotation: Growing different crops, including cover/leguminous crops, in sequence keeps the ground continuously covered, improves soil structure and organic matter, and reduces the exposure and loss of bare soil to erosion.

(a) List four soil conservation practices that can be used to control erosion on a gentle slope. [4 marks] (b) Explain how each of the practices you have li...