Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and be cooler and moister, have more organic matter, and be less drought prone. The
top or crown of a hill or hummock will catch less rainfall, and a shallow or more
weakly developed soil profile will be found. By contrast, a depression or foot slope
position will receive more water and have a deeper soil profile.
Soils formed on different landform facets will have different risks and fragility
characteristics related to crop conditions. Soil biologic processes will occur differen-
tially as well by landscape position because of the variable microclimate conditions
and soil development (or degradation). Land managers need to recognize the range
of soil health and functional characteristics associated with landscapes in order to
develop conservation agriculture systems as well as monitoring and evaluating per-
formance and risks.
Soil quality strongly affects agricultural land use and thus the shaping of the
landscape. Any change in soil quality, whether through degradation processes or
soil health improvement, will have consequences not only on the field or farm level
but also on a greater scale, the landscape. In addition, landscape normally consists
of a combination of different ecosystems that are interlinked more or less closely
with each other. The healthier the soil is under agricultural use, the lesser the off-site
effects that can be expected upon adjacent ecosystems of the same landscape.
Good land husbandry is the active process of implementing and managing preferred
systems of land use and production in such ways that there will be an increase—or, at
worst, no loss—of productivity, of stability, or of usefulness for the chosen purpose.
Also, in particular situations, existing uses or management may need to be changed
so as to halt rapid degradation and to return the land to a condition where good land
husbandry can have fullest effect (Shaxson et al. 1977).
If a production system, as represented by the features of the type of land use and
those of its management characteristics, is imposed on an area of fragile or hazard-
ous land (e.g., sandy soil, steep slope, and/or shallow depth, etc.), any erosional deg-
radation arising from inadequacy of management will occur more rapidly toward a
condition of lower productive potential than if the enterprise were located on flatter
and/or less fragile land; the land itself will “wear out” toward a condition of lower
productivity.
This has two implications:
If the enterprise cannot be transferred to another “safer” or suitable loca-
tion, then a more protective production system such as CA or agroforestry
(Saha et al. 2010) would provide increased security and prolong the soils'
usefulness (better management systems).
If a choice of sites on a landscape is possible, then the safest strategy will
be to locate the physical production system(s) on a (varied) landscape in
such ways that there is rational matching of “hazardous” land uses onto
the “safer” land units and of the “safer” uses onto the land units of greater
hazard (site-specific management).
To achieve any such rationalization, due attention needs to be given
to catchment-oriented land resource survey, assessment, and mapping,
Search WWH ::




Custom Search