1 Answer

The cause of gully erosion Gully erosion occurs when water is channelled across unprotected land and washes away the soil along the drainage lines. Under natural conditions, runoff is moderated by vegetation, which generally holds the soil together, protecting it from excessive runoff and direct rainfall.

Major factors that affect the amount of erosion are soil cloddiness, surface roughness, wind speed, soil moisture, field size, and vegetative cover.

You can reduce soil erosion by:

1. Maintaining a healthy, perennial plant cover.
2. Mulching.
3. Planting a cover crop – such as winter rye in vegetable gardens.
4. Placing crushed stone, wood chips, and other similar materials in heavily used areas where vegetation is hard to establish and maintain.

Types of Soil Erosion

• Rain Drop or Splash Erosion.
• Sheet Erosion.
• Rill Erosion.
• Gully Erosion.
• Stream Bank Erosion.
• Due to Soil Texture.
• Slope.
• Intensity or Amount of Rainfall.

1. (i) Plowing along the contour lines decreases the speed of water low down the slopes.
2. (ii) terrace cultivation on slopes decreases erosion.
3. (iii) Strip cropping: large ields are divided into strips. Strips of grass are left to grow between the crops.
4. (iv) Shelter plantation: here Tree are planted in rows.

In hilly areas, soil erosion can be controlled by ploughing across countour lines, making use of terrace farming techniques and using strips of grasses to check soil erosion by wind and water.