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An Experimental Study on Soil Erosion and Evaluation of Sustainable Soil Conservation Systems


Affiliations
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., India
 

Soil erosion, a complex phenomenon impacting the general land topography, essentially involves distinguishable stages such as detachment and transport of soil particles, storage and runoff of rainwater, and infiltration. Adoption of sustainable soil conservation measures suitable to the land use pattern are of great importance to arrest soil erosion. The present study deals with identifying the critical parameters affecting erosion from a cultivable farm land located in the southern rain-shadow area of Nilgiri Hills at Sathyamangalam. A series of rainfall simulations were performed under laboratory setup by varying rainfall intensity, soil texture, and conservation measures. Three types of soil conservation measures were practiced and tested for understanding water holding capacity and soil and erodability of the collected native soil. Results showed that mulching with dry leaves and growing of deep ischolar_main vetiver plants could give relatively good and comparable results in terms of soil moisture content and percentage of fine particles retained. However, the soil treated with dry sludge collected from co-composting of faecal matter resulted in highest retention of soil moisture as well as fine particles. This can be attributed to the presence of higher organic matter present in the sludge which has the ability to absorb and hold water. Additionally, the soil amended with dry sludge is expected to improve the productivity of land, thereby minimizing the supply of artificial fertilizers. It can be concluded that erosion control by co-composted-dried sludge can be employed as a sustainable alternative for simultaneous erosion control and productivity enhancement of agricultural soil.

Keywords

Co-Composting, Mulching, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion, Sludge, Vetiver Grass.
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  • An Experimental Study on Soil Erosion and Evaluation of Sustainable Soil Conservation Systems

Abstract Views: 175  |  PDF Views: 3

Authors

C. Dinesh Kumar
Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., India
V. Kumaresh
Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., India
J. Abhimanyu
Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., India
M. Vasudevan
Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Erode-638401, T.N., India

Abstract


Soil erosion, a complex phenomenon impacting the general land topography, essentially involves distinguishable stages such as detachment and transport of soil particles, storage and runoff of rainwater, and infiltration. Adoption of sustainable soil conservation measures suitable to the land use pattern are of great importance to arrest soil erosion. The present study deals with identifying the critical parameters affecting erosion from a cultivable farm land located in the southern rain-shadow area of Nilgiri Hills at Sathyamangalam. A series of rainfall simulations were performed under laboratory setup by varying rainfall intensity, soil texture, and conservation measures. Three types of soil conservation measures were practiced and tested for understanding water holding capacity and soil and erodability of the collected native soil. Results showed that mulching with dry leaves and growing of deep ischolar_main vetiver plants could give relatively good and comparable results in terms of soil moisture content and percentage of fine particles retained. However, the soil treated with dry sludge collected from co-composting of faecal matter resulted in highest retention of soil moisture as well as fine particles. This can be attributed to the presence of higher organic matter present in the sludge which has the ability to absorb and hold water. Additionally, the soil amended with dry sludge is expected to improve the productivity of land, thereby minimizing the supply of artificial fertilizers. It can be concluded that erosion control by co-composted-dried sludge can be employed as a sustainable alternative for simultaneous erosion control and productivity enhancement of agricultural soil.

Keywords


Co-Composting, Mulching, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion, Sludge, Vetiver Grass.

References