Review of Efforts to Combat Desertification and Arrest and Reverse Land Degradation in Myanmar - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 286

Table 14.2 Extent of water
erosion within the dry zone of
Myanmar

Type of water erosion Extent (%)

Slight rill erosion 7.2

Slight to moderate rill erosion 38.2

Severe sheet and sheet erosion 26.2

Topsoil completely removed 0.4

Note: Total water erosion affected

area D 72 % approximately

8.1 Mapping of Degraded Land, Availability, Scales

and Methods Used

At present, mapping is carried out by the LUD. The three types of major maps
produced are: agro-ecological zone maps, soil maps and soil erosion maps at the
national level. Soil maps based on land topography are produced at the state/division
level. Mapping is based on 16:1 scale, which is used by the Department of
Settlement and Land Record, and 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 scales for military maps. Data on
the shifting cultivation area are produced using the Forest Inventory Maps generated
by the Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry.
Types of water erosion and their affected areas (Table 14.2 ) are deduced from
medium-scale soil survey maps produced by LUD and the Myanmar Agriculture
Service (MAS), Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI). Geographic infor-
mation systems (GIS) have been used recently for the production of soil maps to
clearly explore soil degradation condition in central dry zone areas. The usage is
unsophisticated due to lack of software as well as human resources and financial aid.

8.2 Prediction and Modeling for Land Degradation

Development

Slope maps, which are essential for erosion mapping and land capability mapping,
have never been produced in Myanmar for so large an area. The methodology has
been contributed by the Watershed Management for Three Critical Areas Project.
After the slope maps have been produced for the entire project area at 1:633,600
scale, algorithms to produce erosion susceptibility data are formulated using FAO
procedures. Management practices that conserve soil moisture or increase soil water
holding capacity of the soils employ soil conservation techniques. For the time
being, LUD is conducting measurement of the erosion rate on an experimental basis
mainly in the central dry zone areas. Treatments include bare soil plots, contour
plantation plots, plantation plots along the slope and natural vegetation plots. Soil
loss findings from the tested plots are given in Table 14.3 .