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Water Resource Conservation in Relation to Soil Erosion and Crop Productivity in Drought prone Foothill Region of Siwaliks Sanjay

Arora1* and M.S. Hadda2


1

Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Jammu (J&K) 180 009, India; *Present address: CSSRI, RRS, Bharuch, India; e-mail: aroraicar@gmail.com ; 2Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, India;

The foothills of Shiwaliks covering an area of 2.14 m ha falls in the states of Punjab (0.14 m ha), Haryana (0.06 m ha), Himachal Pardesh (1.14 m ha) and Jammu and Kashmir (0.80 m ha) and represents the most fragile ecosystem of Himalayan mountain range because of its peculiar geological formations. The Majority of the soils are coarse textured and highly erodible. The region receives an average annual rainfall of about 800 - 1400 mm with a high coefficient of variation. About 80 percent of this rain occurs in the three months of monsoon season (July to September) with highly intensive rainstorms. Ecological degradation in Shiwalik hills is the outcome of continued over-exploitation and mismanagement of soil resources through deforestation, overgrazing and clearance of the vegetation for the agricultural purposes disregard to their slope and topography. The months, preceding summer monsoon season (May and June) witness acute shortage of fodder and fuel due to dry and harsh weather conditions. Whatsoever grass or bushes are available, get browsed, scrapped or cut from the land surface either by animals or by humans leaving the soil bare. The remaining tufts of vegetation are burnt by the hot winds of summer months. Soil surface is loosened with the hoofs of roaming cattle or wild animals. All this sets a scene for soil erosion to take place under the impact of highly intensive summer monsoon rains over steep and bare land. It is reported that runoff and soil loss in the region varies from 3545% and 25-225 t ha-1year-1, respectively. The ecological degradation contributes immensely towards excessive sediment discharge and surface runoff, resulting in the flood damage on foothills as well as plains, reduced recharge of groundwater, impoverishment of arable lands and overall reduction in land productivity, which consequently affects the socio-economic status of the inhabitants. Adoption of some of the practices like off-season tillage, mulching, dead furrows, graded border strips, raised bed sowing of maize, across the slope cultivation can be of benefit. Off-season tillage helps the rainwater to enter into the soil profile more effectively and in additional help in weed control. Mulching is well known practice for minimizing the evaporation of moisture from soil. Ridge and furrow in-situ water conservation is yet another promising system for rainfed areas. Maize is cultivated on raised beds (ridges) and furrows collects excess rainwater/ runoff and this moisture is beneficial for rabi crops. If the water resources are managed properly, the day is not far that drylands are turned to green and economically sound.

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