Chapter 5 Flashcards
Cultivation on the contour
is the practice of planting and cultivating of crops
following the contours of the land.
o Effective water erosion control can seldom be obtained from contour cultivation alone.
o Best results are obtained when contouring is used, in combination with strip cropping or terracing.
Sod crops
Cover the ground surface and fill the surface soil with fibrous roots tend to hold the soil in place and reduce erosion.
Soil erosion
is the movement of soil particles from one place to another under the influence of water or wind.
Strip cropping
Practice of growing crops that require different types of tillage, such as row and sod, in alternate strips, along contours or across the prevailing direction of wind.
(sowing strips of dense-rooted plants to serve as water-breaks or windbreaks in fields of plants with loose root systems)
Terracing
is the practice of constructing embankments or ridges across sloping soils.
o Main reason in wet areas is to construct a ridge across a slope to guide surplus water from a field at an angle rather than straight down the hill.
o In dryland areas, they are constructed to increase water penetration, and reduce runoff, that is, the water is “held” there rather than flowing down the hill as runoff.
Tilth
(ability to work)
Physical condition of soil related to its ease of tillage, fitness as a seedbed, and degree of impedance to seedling emergence and root penetration.
Water erosion
is caused by raindrops, surface flow and gully flow. A selective process in which organic matter and finer soil particles are removed first which rapidly destroys productivity of cultivated land.
Wind erosion
is common in dry areas where soils are often bare of vegetation and high wind velocities are common.
o Wind catches the lightweight silt and clay particles (organic matter) and blows them away, leaving
behind sand and other coarse materials.
o Organic matter, silt and clay, are the most important parts of the soil, because they supply the nutrients needed by plants.
As the nutrient supply is reduced, crop production declines.
is the practice of planting and cultivating of crops
following the contours of the land.
o Effective water erosion control can seldom be obtained from contour cultivation alone.
o Best results are obtained when contouring is used, in combination with strip cropping or terracing.
Cultivation on the contour
Cover the ground surface and fill the surface soil with fibrous roots tend to hold the soil in place and reduce erosion.
Sod crops
is the movement of soil particles from one place to another under the influence of water or wind.
Soil erosion
Practice of growing crops that require different types of tillage, such as row and sod, in alternate strips, along contours or across the prevailing direction of wind.
(sowing strips of dense-rooted plants to serve as water-breaks or windbreaks in fields of plants with loose root systems)
Strip cropping
is the practice of constructing embankments or ridges across sloping soils.
o Main reason in wet areas is to construct a ridge across a slope to guide surplus water from a field at an angle rather than straight down the hill.
o In dryland areas, they are constructed to increase water penetration, and reduce runoff, that is, the water is “held” there rather than flowing down the hill as runoff.
Terracing
(ability to work)
Physical condition of soil related to its ease of tillage, fitness as a seedbed, and degree of impedance to seedling emergence and root penetration.
Tilth
is caused by raindrops, surface flow and gully flow. A selective process in which organic matter and finer soil particles are removed first which rapidly destroys productivity of cultivated land.
Water erosion
