Abstract
Now, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, and land degradation due to climate change has been pushing to search for more sustainable systems. Soil and water conservation practice contribute high in the long term agricultural sustainability and sustainable agricultural farming. The objective of this paper is to review the major agronomic practices and their role in soil and water conservation. The review revealed that the major agronomic soil and water conservations practices in Ethiopia are strip cropping, mixed cropping, intercropping, fallowing, mulching, contour ploughing, crop rotation, conservation tillage and agroforestry. The plant canopies, litter and mulching intercept rain by decreasing the amount, intensity and the spatial distribution of the precipitation reaching the soil surface and this protects the soil surface from the direct impact of raindrops which can cause a splash and sheet erosion. In soil and water conservation, this practice is higher than others, because crops and leguminous woody perennials improve and enrich soil conditions by atmospheric nitrogen fixation, an addition of organic matter through litterfall and dead and decaying roots, nutrient cycling, modification of soil porosity and contribution to infiltration rates. It also alleviates and maintains salinity, alkalinity, acidity and waterlogging problems. Hence, the use agronomic practices for soil and water conservation is vital for climate change adaptation and mitigation because it can give both productive role (producing food, fodder, fuel, wood) and protective role (soil conserving functions, windbreaks and shelterbelts).
Highlights
Land degradation is a major problem that requires urgent intervention measures
The topography and agro-climatic conditions are varying; that one should have the ability to discern what type of soil and water conservation measures a particular land area requires (FAO, 1984)
According to Simpson (2010), agronomic practices are measures undertaken within the cropping area for crop production purposes and include practices such as intercropping, contour cultivation, minimum tillage, mulching, manuring, etc., which are usually associated with annual crops, are repeated routinely each season or in a rotational sequence, are of short duration and not permanent, do not lead to changes in slope profile, are not zoned and are independent of slope
Summary
Land degradation is a major problem that requires urgent intervention measures. This is especially true in the poorest countries, where agricultural production is crucial to development, and the livelihoods of the majority of the population depend on the primary sector (Barbier & Bishop, 1995). With the changing climate, agricultural land use often results in the degradation of natural soil fertility and reduced productivity (Barbier & Bishop, 1995), especially with increasing population that keeps putting more pressure on the land. The topography and agro-climatic conditions are varying; that one should have the ability to discern what type of soil and water conservation measures a particular land area requires (FAO, 1984). The aim of this paper is to review commonly applied agronomic soil and water conservation practices and its’ role in soil and water conservation for climate change adaptation
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