Ways to Reduce Water Erosion on Mountainous Slope Lands

Abstract

The most important problem in the highland area is the development of technologies to reduce water erosion and improve soil fertility preservation. In order to restore degraded soils of slope lands, a number of measure is undertaken, among them planting crops across the slope and rational fertilizer treatment. To reduce erosion processes, mineral fertilizers were applied depending on the steepness of slope. High sections with the steepness of 9–10∘ received ammonium sulphate in a quantity of 60 kg/ha. Lower part of the slope with the steepness of 5–7∘ received ammonia nitrate as a nitrogen fertilizer in a quantity of 80 kg/ha, while the gentle sloping part with 2–5∘ had urea-formaldehyde fertilizer incorporated under winter tillage in a quantity of 50 kg/ha. At that, stripes were formed across the slope where tall-growing perennial herbs were planted: hill mustard (Bunias orentalis L.), silphium (Silphium perfaliatum), Eastern galega (Galeqa orientalis L.), cock’s foot grass (Dakfilis qlamerata L.). The research results have shown that thanks to fertilizers, yield of crops increases by a factor of 1.5–2, while soil losses reduced from 0.042 to 0.018 t/ha.