The effectiveness of soil erosion measures for cropland in the Austrian Agri-environmental Programme: A national approach using local data

Abstract

As a national Agri-environmental Programme in Austria, ÖPUL subsidises mulching/no-till and cover crops to mitigate soil erosion. In this study, the participation rates and effectiveness of these ÖPUL-measures are analysed. In addition, the impact of different farming systems (conventional farming vs organic farming) on the soil erosion risk in Austria are compared. A national analysis is carried out, while local data is implemented at the scale of agricultural fields. Therefore, we use the well-established Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The analysis demonstrates that 1) soil erosion is strongly related to regional-specific management practices, and ÖPUL-measures in their current form are not consistently applied in areas where erosion mitigation is desired, 2) the ÖPUL-measures mulching/no-till and cover crops are not used to their full potential due to a lack of participation, while fields with implemented ÖPUL-measures indicate a significantly lower chance of soil erosion > 11 t ha−1 yr−1 than others and 3) the lower soil erosion in organic farming is due to a lower proportion of erosion-prone crops in the crop rotation compared to conventional farming. Soil erosion > 11 t ha−1 yr−1 is approx. 1.5 times more likely on conventional fields compared to organic fields, suggesting that both farming types require further erosion mitigation strategies. Actual implementation rates cannot reach the potentially high effectiveness of ÖPUL-measures against erosion. The authors suggest that participation could be raised if options for additional measures are offered by the ÖPUL programme, such as grassed waterways or micro dams in potato farming.