Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Management of Soils - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 326

FIGURE 13.8 Agroforestry interventions for restoring jhum lands. (Reprinted from ICAR
Research Complex, North East region, Meghalaya, Annual Report. With permission.)
cultivation and fallow periods (Thrupp 1997). This system is manmade and reflects
the perception of traditional culture that has evolved over the years, which is based
mainly on strong sociocultural and traditional beliefs, confounded by the economic
status of people. In this extensive method of agriculture, farmers rotate land rather
than crops to sustain livelihoods.
13.5.8 t erraCe or B un C ultivation
In order to maintain productivity of the system, to conserve soil moisture, and to pre-
vent land degradation, bun cultivation has been practiced on hillslopes and valleys
of the Himalayas for several decades (NIC 2001) ( Figure 13.9 ). In this system, bench
terraces are constructed on hillslopes running across the slopes. The space between
two buns is leveled using the cut-and-hill method. The vertical interval between the
terraces is not usually more than 1 m. Such measures help to prevent soil erosion,
retain maximum rainwater within the slopes, and safely dispose of the excess runoff
from the slopes to the foothills (Awasthi and Borthakur 1986; Misra et al. 1992;
Sonowal and Dutta 2002; Singh 2002).
13.5.9 M anaGinG M arShy S aline S oilS
In some situations, the soils become sodic due to lack of drainage. This is common
in Vertisols of central India. The rainfall is low here. Such situations are managed by