Natural Vegetative filter strips (NVS) are attractive contour barrier systems compared with other alternatives because they are simple to establish and maintain they control erosion effectively and they compete less with associated annual crops. The recommended practice has been to space hedgerows so that there is a one-meter drop in elevation between them. This results in very close hedgerow spacing (3-6m apart) on sloping lands, which removes considerable area from crop production. We hypothesized that acceptable soil loss may be possible with fewer hedgerows, and tested the effect of hedgerow density on soil loss in an experiment on a field with 50 meters slope length and 45% slope.
Publication year
1999
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
contour cultivation, erosion control, smallholders, conservation tillage, strip cropping
