Contents

1    Contour ploughing

2    Terrace farming

3    Keyline design

4    Perimeter runoff control

5    Windbreaks

6    Cover crops/crop rotation

7    Soil-conservation farming

8    Salinity management

9    Soil organisms

10    Mineralization

General summary

Soil conservation is to prevent the loss of soil fertility due to erosion or overuse, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil pollution, thereby preventing soil surface loss.

Contour tillage orients the furrow along the contour line of the cultivated area. The furrow is moved left and right to maintain a constant height, thereby reducing runoff. The ancient Phoenicians used contour farming with slopes ranging from 2% to 10%. Contour farming can increase crop yields from 10% to 50%, partly because of higher soil retention.

Terracing is the practice of creating nearly flat areas on hillsides. The terraces form a series of steps, each step higher than the previous one. Terraces are protected by other soil barriers from erosion.

The key line design enhances contour agriculture, and the total watershed characteristics should be considered when forming contour lines.

Trees, shrubs and ground cover plants can effectively prevent soil erosion by stopping surface water flow. A special form of this perimeter or inter-row treatment is the use of "grass roads", which can guide and dissipate runoff through surface friction, or prevent surface runoff and promote slow surface water infiltration.

Enough dense rows of trees in windbreak forests are eroded by exposed wind on windward farmland. Evergreen tree species provide year-round protection; however, as long as there are leaves in the season when the soil is bare, the effect of deciduous trees is sufficient.