Effects of vegetative cover and residues management on water erosion in steeplands of Colombia
In Colombia it is estimated that 80 percent of agricultural steeplands (=24 million hectares) are affected by water erosion. Unless suitable farming systems are implemented the harmful effects of erosion will be increased because social pressures and farming encroachment into these ecologically fragile lands. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a weighted crop management factor (Cw) that integrates agronomic conservation practices and cropping systems in terms of the amount of rainfall energy intercepted by the canopy and ground cover. Erosion control trials consisted of Andean raspberry (Rubus glaucus) mono-cropping system with conventional hoe tillage and weed management with herbicides, and Andean raspberry interplanting with maize (Zea mais), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), and a variety of calabash (Cucurbita maxima). A bare soil plot was included as reference treatment. The plots were sited on volcanic ash soils in the high marginal coffee zone of the central Andes of Colombia with slopes ranging between 35 and 67％. An exponential relationship was found between (Cw) and the proportion of canopy and ground cover (Cf). It is concluded that cropping systems and soil management approaches that increase ground cover (residue-based zero tillage and “noble weeds) are effective to control water erosion in steeplands and may lead to the long term sustainability of farming systems. These approaches should be promoted rather than engineering conservation techniques.
steeplands conservation agriculture interplanted crops
Franco H. Obando
Departamento de Sistemas de Producción, Universidad de Caldas, Colombia
国际会议
西安
英文
1121-1124
2010-10-11（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）