The effectiveness of soil and water conservation terrace structures for improvement of crops and soil productivity in rainfed terraced system

Abstract

Depletion of soil moisture and soil nutrients by run-off is a serious problem in many parts of sloppy rainfed tract of Pakistan particularly in Fateh Jang areas. Terrace Structures (TS) are one of the important measures to enhance the water conservation and to check depletion of essential nutrient elements to obtain maximum crop yield on sloppy lands. A study was executed to assess the performance of TS regarding run off interception to conserve soil moisture and soil fertility for wheat production in uneven terrain of rainfed region. Wheat was sown on the upstream of TS consisting of two major blocks; Recommended Rate of Fertilizer (RRF) and Farmer Practice (FP) while under both there were two sub-blocks; With Terrace Structure (WTS) and Without Terrace Structure (WOTS) which hence constitute four treatments consisting of Recommended Rate of Fertilizer with Structure (RRFWS), Recommended Rate of Fertilizer Without Structure (RRFWOS), Farmer Practice With Structure (FPWS) and Farmer Practice Without Structure (FPWOS). Results of this experiment revealed that TS has increased the wheat grain yield significantly (20%) through conservation of soil moisture contents (16 %) and soil fertility level. TS had decreased the gullies/rills formation through the efficient removal of excess rainwater.