Farmland Conservation essays

Farmland Conservation essays There are many techniques used that are proven to conserve and improve farmland soil. The main reason for Southeast Asia's successful rice paddies is due to the countries strong focus on farmland conservation. If the United States were to follow suit, they too would have the same long-lasting, rich soil that Southeast Asia is still thankful for to this day. The reason for the Southeasts immense success can be explained through many of their ancient techniques but the most productive of which is the long used system of terracing. Which can be dated back to being in use for nearly more then a thousand years. What terracing involves is shaping of the land to create level shelves of earth which is proven to be useful for holding in the water and soil of a region. This method is usually used only in steep areas were no other form of agriculture can be made possible. Also, the perimeter of the terranced land is outlined by special plants set specifically to hold in place the grounds soil. With the roots of these plants set firmly into the earth it can make it much more difficult to find any place for soil to escape. During times of heavy erosion these plants can hold their ground and sustain the valuable nutrients available within the soil. Without this helpful technique the soil could easily be lost through wind or water erosion (The Agriculture With these two methods of soil conservation in place, there is already a strong system for maintaining the necessary materials for crop growth. However even with terracing in use much of the soil would still be lost over time. There must be a way of reconstructing new soil in place of older previously used soil in order to maintain a healthy productive farmland. With careful farming, soil is a renewable resource that can be recycled and reused for ...