Soil and water conservation and dryland farming performance: An emergy synthesis perspective on three typical farming systems in the Loess Plateau of China

Challenging the land degradation in China's Loess Plateau: Benefits, limitations, sustainability, and adaptive strategies of soil and water conservation

The impact of social interaction and information acquisition on the adoption of soil and water conservation technology by farmers: Evidence from the Loess Plateau, China

Land degradation in the form of soil erosion and fertility depletion is the major environmental problem in Ethiopia. However, to curb this problem, soil and water conservation (SWC) structures are commonly practiced in many rural parts of Ethiopia. This study was conducted to assess the effects of SWC structures on selected soil physicochemical properties in Ejersa Lafo district. For this study, two kebeles (peasant associations) were selected purposively from the district based on the severity of soil erosion and information on SWC practices. The research design employed in this study was systematic, randomized, complete block design. A total of 12 composite soil samples were collected from the depth of 0 to 20 cm at two subwatersheds, namely, Jamjam laga batu and Koriso Odo guba with SWC and without SWC structures at three landscape positions. All the soil samples were analyzed following the standard and recommended procedures. The effect of independent variables (SWC practices and landscape positions) on the dependent variables (soil properties) was statistically tested using the SPSS computer program 21. In this study, most of the selected soil physicochemical properties were affected by watershed management intervention (SWC) structures. Soil moisture content (SMC), clay, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total N (TN), available (AP), available K (AK), and organic carbon (OC) were higher in the subwatershed treated with SWC structures (conserved), whereas bulk density, silt, and sand were higher in the subwatershed without SWC structures (nonconserved). Most of the selected soil chemical properties were significantly varied (p<0.05) between conserved and nonconserved farm land except EC. All the selected soil physicochemical properties did not show any significant variation (p<0.05) at landscape positions except sandy soil. The physicochemical soil properties of selected parameters were in good conditions in the conserved areas with higher N and OM and lower BD, indicating fertility of the soil compared with the nonconserved land. The implementation of SWC structures improved some of the physicochemical properties of soil, such as SMC, clay particle, pH, EC, total N, AP, AK, and OC in the study area. Furthermore, efforts are required to enhance community adoption towards soil and water conservation. Additionally, further research has to be carried out on socioeconomic aspects and impacts of the intervention on crop productivity for better understanding of the sustainable use of the land.

Soil and water conservation effects driven by the implementation of ecological restoration projects: Evidence from the red soil hilly region of China in the last three decades

The Loess Plateau of China has experienced a lengthy drought and severe soil erosion. Changes in precipitation and land use largely determine the dynamics of runoff and sediment yield in this region. Trend and mutation analyses were performed on hydrological data (1981-2012) from the Yanwachuan watershed in the Loess Plateau Gully Region to study the evolution characteristics of runoff and sediment yield. A time-series contrasting method also was used to evaluate the effects of precipitation and soil and water conservation (SWC) on runoff and sediment yield. Annual sediment yield declined markedly from 1981 to 2012 although there was no significant change in annual precipitation and annual runoff. Change points of annual runoff and annual sediment yield occurred in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Compared with that in the baseline period (1981-1996), annual runoff and annual sediment yield in the change period (1997-2012) decreased by 17.0% and 76.0%, respectively, but annual precipitation increased by 6.3%. Runoff decreased in the flood season and normal season, but increased in the dry season, while sediment yield significantly declined in the whole study period. The SWC measures contributed significantly to the reduction of annual runoff (137.9%) and annual sediment yield (135%) and were more important than precipitation. Biological measures (forestland and grassland) accounted for 61.04% of total runoff reduction, while engineering measures (terraces and dams) accounted for 102.84% of total sediment yield reduction. Furthermore, SWC measures had positive ecological effects. This study provides a scientific basis for soil erosion control on the Loess Plateau.

Improving crop productivity and farm income of rural households and ensuring food security through soil and water conservation (SWC) measures are one of the integral parts of sustainable livelihood approaches. The study aims to assess the impact of soil and water conservation measures on improving the rural livelihoods, which is measured in terms of annual crop production and farm income of rural households in the Damota area districts. The data was collected from 378 households (209 adopters and 169 nonadopters of SWC measures) using survey questionnaires, which were randomly chosen by using multistage sampling techniques. Descriptive and inferential statistics with propensity score matching (PSM) method were used to analyze the collected data. The propensity score matching method was used to assess the impacts of soil and water conservation measures by controlling unobserved heterogeneity and were matched with balanced observable characteristics. The result showed that the mean value of wheat production of adopter households was higher (654 kilograms per hectare) than that of nonadopters (496 kilograms per hectare). Similarly, the mean values of farm income of adopter households were higher (17372.67 Ethiopian Birr per year) than those of nonadopter households (13883.22 Ethiopian Birr per year). The result indicated that both crop production and annual farm income were more pronounced when farmers implemented sustainable soil and water conservation measures on their farming lands. This suggests that all rural households need to focus on the large-scale adoption, integration, and maintenances of damaged structures for better agricultural outcomes.

Land degradation is a serious problem world-over and need immediate attention. The eastern Ghats of India spreading over 19.8 Mha have suffered severe erosion due to shifting cultivation, deforestation, over grazing and faulty land use. Site specific soil and water conservation measures were implemented in Kokriguda watershed, a representative of the eastern Ghats of India, for monitoring their impact on resource conservation, productivity and income of tribal farmers as well as their adoption by the tribal farmers. Cost effective soil and water conservation (SWC) measures viz., contour and stone bunds, trench-cum-bunds with vegetative barriers and hedge rows, sunken ponds, loose boulder check dams etc. were constructed at suitable locations. Bio-engineering measures were generally preferred. These land treatments resulted in reduction in soil loss and runoff by 82 and 51%, respectively, rise in water table by 0.32 m, and increase in crop yield by 15 to 38% within four-year period. Irrigated area increased from 2 to 35 ha due to water resources developed. Total income from vegetable cultivation using harnessed water for the whole village increased to Rs. 1.4 lakh.year-1. Farmers’ participation in soil and water conservation activities was appreciable, and their contribution to different activities varied from 5 to 10 per cent. However, education and support services to convince the farmers about the problem of soil degradation and training on soil conservation practices is essential for large scale adoption of soil and water conservation measures.

Policy plays a very important role in natural resource management as it lays out a government framework for guiding long-term decisions, and evolves in light of the interactions between human and environment. This paper focuses on soil and water conservation (SWC) policy in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. The problems, rural poverty, severe soil erosion, great sediment loads and high flood risks, are analyzed over the period of 1949–present using the Driving force–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework as a way to organize analysis of the evolution of SWC policy. Three stages are identified in which SWC policy interacts differently with institutional, financial and technology support. In Stage 1 (1949–1979), SWC policy focused on rural development in eroded areas and on reducing sediment loads. Local farmers were mainly responsible for SWC. The aim of Stage 2 (1980–1990) was the overall development of rural industry and SWC. A more integrated management perspective was implemented taking a small watershed as a geographic interactional unit. This approach greatly improved the efficiency of SWC activities. In Stage 3 (1991 till now), SWC has been treated as the main measure for natural resource conservation, environmental protection, disaster mitigation and agriculture development. Prevention of new degradation became a priority. The government began to be responsible for SWC, using administrative, legal and financial approaches and various technologies that made large-scale SWC engineering possible. Over the historical period considered, with the implementation of the various SWC policies, the rural economic and ecological system improved continuously while the sediment load and flood risk decreased dramatically. The findings assist in providing a historical perspective that could inform more rational, scientific and effective natural resource management going forward.

Simulating the hydrological impacts of intensive soil and water conservation measures in the Yellow River basin using a distributed physically-based model

Various soil and water conservation (SWC) practices have been constructed through campaign-based integrated watershed management in Ethiopia since 2011. However, not all SWC measures were implemented across the country and preferred by the farmers equally. Hence, this research aimed to evaluate the trends of community-mobilized SWC practice and farmers’ SWC preference to combat land degradation in Amhara region, Ethiopia. The study utilized primary and secondary data from 92 selected watersheds across 13 zones, 45 woredas, and 1,739 households. Extensive household interviews that include elders, women, and youth, as well as focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result showed that 128,726.28 hectares of gully rehabilitation had been carried out, 4,436,096.3033 hectares of cultivated fields have received SWC measures, and SWC measures were done on 817,104.7 hectares of communal land. Despite these commendable initiatives, it was found that 46% of the community-mobilized SWC structures built on cultivated land have been partially or entirely removed, additionally, 66% of the constructed SWC structures lack support by biological measures. Furthermore, the survey revealed that 20% of the respondents’ land holdings were affected by gullies, and a 43% decrease trend in efforts to combat gully erosion since 2011. This study demonstrates the significance of implementing SWC measures for the sustainability of the watershed. It also underscores the vital role of regular maintenance in enhancing the effectiveness of the structures, along with the imperative need to reinforce the SWC structures using biological measures. Moreover, the research stresses the importance of rehabilitating communal lands through enclosure and improving cropland soil fertility by applying organic compost.

Over the past twelve years, the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) programme has seen significant progress in documenting case studies of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies and approaches. In addition to more detailed mapping activities at the (sub-)national level, WOCAT has recently launched an initiative to develop a world map. National SWC specialists have been asked to provide geographical information on the 2 to 8 most important SWC technologies in their country. Each of the main SWC types will be illustrated by symbols indicating land use, degradation and conservation, as well as by photos and a brief text. The map will be made available on the internet and updated regularly to show the progress of data collection and SWC achievements. This new initiative was spurred by various requests revealing the need for a geographical overview of SWC achievements worldwide. The map is intended for a very broad public, with the aim to raise awareness of the importance of soil and water conservation. It will be published jointly by the collaborating institutions of the WOCAT network. This paper presents the methodology used, as well as the progress made so far, and offers initial examples. It also calls for feedback and support from SWC specialists and the public. Additional

Land degradation is a serious global problem. Pursuant to the alarming environmental degradation, the government and non-governmental organizations have implemented various land rehabilitation programs. Among this the predominant one is area closures, through tree-planting and physical conservation measures such as terracing. This study was designed to investigate the impact of integrating soil and water conservation (SWC) measures into the area closure on the selected soil properties based on comparative analysis between closed area with SWC, closed area without SWC and open grazing land. A total of 30 composite soil samples from 0 to 15 cm depth were collected with 10 replications from each land uses. Soil parameters such as bulk density (BD), soil moisture content (MC), soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and texture were analyzed. Data was analyzed statistically by using SPSS software packages. Mean comparison were made by using Tukey HSD test at P = 0.05. Results showed that higher mean MC, SOM and TN were recorded under closed area with SWC than closed area without SWC and open grazing while mean EC and pH were comparatively lower under closed area with SWC. Texture, BD and C/N ratio shows no significant variation with land uses. These results indicated that integrating SWC measures into area closure have a potential to improve soil properties. The findings generally suggest that integrating SWC measures into area closure was found to be the better option to improve physico-chemical conditions of degraded lands. Additional research was also recommended for practical generalization considering other variables like vegetation parameters that were not addressed in this study. Key words: Area closure, soil and water conservation, grazing land, soil, degradation.

Various soil processes are responsible for the flow and maintenance of ecosystems services within a soil type in a landscape. The human-induced pressure causes land degradation like soil erosion, depletion of soil organic matter, loss of soil biodiversity, acidification, mechanical compaction, secondary salinization (from irrigation water) and contamination by industrial wastes. These degradations are damaging the capacity of soil to perform optimum soil functions. Soil erosion is the major cause of land degradation which causes huge losses to the economy through loss of provisioning, regulating, and supporting ecosystem services (ESs). Study revealed that global economic losses from soil erosion is around US $ 8 billion annually, due to reduced soil fertility, decreased crop yields and increased water usage. However, proper implementation of soil and water conservation (SWC) measures and sediment control programmes can reduce the erosion and sediment loads of water bodies. Soil conservation measures are sustainable if the supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services provided by soil are maintained or enhanced without significantly impairing the soil functions. In this chapter, for easy understanding, some important soil functions are compared for two contrasting ecosystems at three different locations within a landscape in hill and mountain ecosystem of India. Overall, the aggregated soil quality was better in adjoining forest sites than that of terraced croplands. It clearly showed that to maximize the crop productivity through intensive cultivation, there is massive compromise with the soil ecosystem functions. We highlighted here that in hill and mountain ecosystem, land use land cover change through legume intercropping in maize had the highest additional ESs to the tune of USD 457 (INR. 33637) compared to without inter cropping. Interestingly, here the contribution of regulating service was more (to the tune of USD 241; INR. 17735) than the provisioning service (USD 210; INR. 15461). The analysis of different parameters in a participatory watershed management study revealed that the ecosystem benefits due to soil and water conservation intervention in a watershed can be realized by understanding the saving of travel time for odder and fuel collection, soil retention through erosion control, nutrient build-up and carbon sequestration. Earlier (before the watershed intervention) the women community used to travel to near-by forest areas for the purpose of collecting fuel-woods and fodder. After 27 years, they realized the importance of soil and water conservation intervention in terms of many provisioning and intangible benefits. Although, more detail information and computation methodology needs to be established to compute the all other benefits. Soil degradation is a severe global concern for food security and ecosystem sustainability due to landslides, erosion, and a reduction in soil carbon and biodiversity. Soils' contribution to human well-being goes beyond food production, and this may be addressed by incorporating soils into the ecosystem services framework and linking it to the diverse functions it performs. Much research has been done on soil and ecosystem services, but not all of them have looked at the direct relationship between soil qualities and ecosystem services.

Africa’s lands are largely vulnerable and threatened by soil degradation and low water availability, especially in semi-arid and arid regions, limiting crop and livestock productivity and farmer livelihood options. Therefore, in African agricultural lands, adopting/improving measures that conserve soil and water resources is crucial. This review aims to provide an update on soil and water conservation (SWC) in terms of farmer practices and research actions and explore how SWC technologies and practices represent a pathway to build or re-establish soil health and enhance sustainable agriculture in Africa. It also aims to increase knowledge on best-fit SWC approaches. Soil conservation, which includes measures of controlling soil erosion and maintaining or improving soil fertility, is inseparable from water conservation. On agricultural lands, the two are typically co-addressed. Increasing plant biomass production through improved water, crop and soil management practices, and managing this biomass judiciously, have direct and indirect impacts on conserving soils and water resources, particularly in drylands. This study focuses on rainfed agricultural systems. We discuss the barriers and challenges to scaling up best-bet SWC technological and management options. Moreover, we show that options, such as Conservation Agriculture (CA), Agroforestry (AF), as well as integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and field-scale rainwater harvesting (RWH), remain promising for the preservation and improvement of soil health in Africa’s farmlands and improving the resilience of agrosystems to climate change and variability as well as droughts.

China is experiencing conflicts between its large population and scarce arable land, and between a demand for high productivity and the severe soil erosion of arable land. Since 1949, China has committed to soil and water conservation (SWC), for which eight regions and 41 subregions have been developed to improve the environment and increase land productivity. To obtain information from the regional planning and strategies for SWC and to explore whether SWC practices simultaneously contribute to soil conservation, ecosystem functioning, and the livelihoods of local farmers, and to summarize the successful experiences of various SWC paradigms with distinct characteristics and mechanisms of soil erosion, this paper systematically presents seven SWC regions (excluding the Tibetan Plateau region) and 14 typical SWC paradigms, focusing on erosion mechanisms and the key challenges or issues in the seven regions as well as on the core problems, main objectives, key technologies, and the performance of the 14 typical paradigms. In summary, the 14 typical SWC paradigms successfully prevent and control local soil erosion, and have largely enhanced, or at least do not harm, the livelihoods of local farmers. However, there remain many challenges and issues on SWC and socioeconomic development that need to be addressed in the seven SWC regions. China, thus, still has a long way to go in successfully gaining the win-win objective of SWC and human aspects of development.