The damage that soil erosion can cause

Soil erosion may be defined as the removal of soil particles from one area to another by wind or running water.
It degrades the quality of the soil and if unchecked it can make the garden useless for agriculture. 

Farmers are expected to do everything in their power to minimise soil losses since it is in the soil that crops are anchored and it is where they do most of the feeding in order to grow. 

It takes away fertile soil and soil sustaining organisms from the garden and deposits them in areas where they are not intended to be. Often the soil is placed on top of other plants which die. 

Sometimes soil erosion removes entire crops from the garden and takes them to other areas from where they cannot be reclaimed, like in the swamps.

Soil erosion leaves behind bare and hard surfaces where it is difficult to grow crops. 

In many cases it results in deep gullies forming in the garden and making it difficult to push wheelbarrows and other farm machinery across the garden.

However, farmers ought to understand that wind and running water don’t act alone to cause soil erosion. 
Some activities by the farmers themselves facilitate soil erosion. If the farmers for example too frequently till the land the soil particles become loose and easy to carry away by wind and running water. 

If the farmers don’t plant enough trees along the boundaries of their gardens the wind blows directly over the soil in their gardens. 
If they do not plant rows of fodder grass across their gardens to act as soil traps when it rains they make it easier for the running water to take away soil and its nutrients from their gardens. 

If they don’t dig gullies across the slopes to trap running water in their gardens then it all goes away together with the soil into the valleys. Some smart farmers practice continuous mulching which makes it difficult for rain drops to hit the land directly and to drive away soil particles. 

Mulching also covers the soil and protects it from wind.

Mr Michael Ssali is a veteran journalist, 
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