Prime
Planting trees around and within the gardens mitigates soil erosion
Mr Michael J Ssali
What you need to know:
- Wherever the soil carried is deposited it covers some other soil in a different area that is perhaps already supporting other crops and plants.
Farmers must attach a lot of attention to soil and water conservation. The soil is the place in which crops are anchored and that is where they get most nourishment.
For crops and livestock to grow well water availability is an important consideration for anybody setting up a farm.
The farmer must ensure that soil is not degraded in any way by taking all the measures possible to protect it.
Fighting soil erosion is one of the most effective ways of soil conservation. Farmers often pray for rain but it is actually the biggest agent of soil erosion.
Another major agent of soil erosion is wind. It blows over the ground and carries dust from one place to another, usually a long way off.
If the farmer frequently tills the land the soil is loosened and rendered easier for runoff water and wind to carry away.
That soil, which is often referred to as top soil, goes off with nutrients and soil enriching organisms and is deposited elsewhere. It is a disturbance of soil profiles.
Wherever the soil carried is deposited it covers some other soil in a different area that is perhaps already supporting other crops and plants.
Such crops and vegetation are buried and lost. Yet the area where the soil and organisms are removed is rendered less fertile.
In some cases the ground is left bare and useless for crop production. In many cases entire crops are washed away.
Agriculturalists describe soil erosion as the removal of the fertile top soil by water and wind.
Farmers therefore must take measures such as planting grass bands across their gardens to trap some of the soil being driven away. This is especially crucial for people growing crops on hill slopes.
They can also dig gullies across the fields to trap runoff water.
They must devise ways of harvesting rainwater by constructing water tanks and reservoirs.
They should as much as possible keep the soil covered with crops or grass and leaves to mitigate soil erosion by either rain or wind.
Organic mulches sustain water retention in the soil and eventually become manure.
When the soil is covered with mulch or vegetation the rain drops don’t hit the ground directly.
The roots of the trees and shrubs act as nails to hold the soil together.
Planting trees around and within the gardens mitigates soil erosion by wind.
Mr Michael J Ssali is a veteran journalist,
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