Abstract
From the viewpoint of sustainability, annual soil erosion should be controlled below an erosion level. Palau is an island in the Micronesia region of the western Pacific Ocean. The island receives heavy rainfall and has steep slopes, so 80% of the land is categorized within the most fragile rank (T factor = 1) in soil erosion. We tested several methods of preventing soil erosion on the land, with a slope of 15.4° (13.4°–17.3°), cultivated the land, planted sweet potatoes, and compared the amount of soil erosion. Surprisingly, there was no erosion at all in all plots (including control plots), although 24 rainfall events occurred and the USLE equation predicted 32 tons per ha of soil erosion in the cropping period. For the parameters of the USLE equation used in this study, only the K factor was not measured (cited from a USDA report). Namely, the K factor estimated by soil texture was larger than the actual value. Measuring the K factor in the fields can expand Palau's sustainable agricultural land.
Highlights
The results show that land at low risk of soil erosion can be found by determining site-specific K factor measurements
We conducted an experiment to evaluate the effect of root mass on erosion reduction under tillage conditions
The experiment was conducted under erosion-promoting conditions: a slope of about 15°, vertical ridges, and prior placement of weed control fabric
Summary
Boomer , Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Washington, USA CBP Scientific Technical Advisory Committee, Washington, USA. Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article. Author roles: Oda M: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft Preparation; Nwe YY: Investigation, Resources, Writing – Original Draft Preparation; Omae H: Investigation, Project Administration, Writing – Original Draft Preparation
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