Soil Conservation Practices Applied by Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI), Bandarban, Bangladesh

Abstract

Soil provides living things with food, fibers, and fuel. It supports wildlife and rural and urban activities. One of the most serious problems currently affecting agricultural productivity in developing countries of the tropics is land degradation [1]. Due to the slope and high rainfall intensity, sloping lands are faced with nutrient and water losses through runoff which may result in a reduction in soil fertility. Soil fertility is the status of soil with respect to its ability to supply adequate and balanced amount of elements essential for plant growth without a toxic concentration of any element [2]. Major increases in agricultural production have been realized in developing countries over the last half-century [3]. Last 12th February 2019, we have visited the Soil Resource Development Institute, Bandarban, Bangladesh. Another institute named Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Centre (SC-WMC) is situated over there. But, the parent organization is SRDI [22.177732°N, 92.188038°E] by the way. The SCWMC buildings are established on the summit (A summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent) of a hilly area. There are some other hills that are available surrounding the Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Centre. All of the hilly areas are conserved by the SCWMC. They have applied different Soil Conservation Techniques to conserve the hilly area. And, the center works as the modeling zone regarding Soil Conservation of the hilly regions. An estimated 75% of the world's poor and hungry live in rural areas and depend directly on agriculture for their livelihoods [4]. So, it is important to develop new techniques and methods of soil conservation. And, Soil resource development institute is also working on improving and adopting new methods to conserve soil. Information on interrelationships between soil-conserving, runoff-reducing practices is important because in many parts of the country heterogeneity of topography or other production conditions within a single farm, together with crop diversification, make it efficient for farmers to combine several practices into an overall conservation package [6]. The innovative technologies that are applied by Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Centre (SC-WMC), Meghla, Bandarban are Bench Terrace for year-round crop production, Gabion check dam for gully erosion control, Jute Geo-Textile for rehabilitating degraded land, Establishment of Hedgerows in farmer's field for soil erosion control, etc. Soil conservation practices of soil resource development institute, Bandarban, Bangladesh Hills in Bangladesh occupies 12% of its geographical area of which Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) covers about 10%. Approximately 1.0 million peoples of thirteen tribal groups are living on the resources of this region [5].