What are the soil conservation practices in flood prone areas?

Answer 1

My Answer starts here...Hope you find it useful..

The management of rainfall and resultant run-off is very important and found to depend on watersheds. A watershed is an area bounded by the divide line of water.

Thus it may be a drainage basin or stream. The Himalayas are one of the most vital watersheds in the world. These watersheds are threatened by deforestation and other ecological malpractices and have resulted in depletion of water resources. Thus for watershed management following measures to be adopted

1. Soil and land use survey.

2. Soil conservation in catchment of River Valley Projects and flood prone areas.

3. Afforestation, Social Forestry Programs and Drought Prone Development Programs.

4. Desert development.

5. Control of shifting cultivation.

Watershed management practices: In the Fifth Five Year Plan, watershed management approach was included with a number of programs and a national policy was developed. The practices of conservation and development of land and water are taken up with respect to their suitability for peoples benefit as well as sustainability. The various methods taken up for management include the following:

(i) Water harvesting: Proper storage of water is done with provision for use in dry seasons in low rainfall areas. It also helps in moderation of floods.

(ii) Afforestation and agro forestry: In watershed development, afforestation and crop plantation play a very important role. They help to prevent soil erosion and retention of moisture. In high rainfall areas woody trees are grown in between crops to substantially reduce the run-off and loss of fertile soil.

In Dehradun, trees of Eucalyptus and Leucaena and grasses like Chrysopogon are grown along with maize or wheat to achieve the above objectives. Woody trees grown successfully in such agro forestry programs include Dalbergia sissoo (Sheesham), Jectona grandis (Teak) and Acacia nilotica (Keekar) which has been used in watershed areas of river Yamuna.

(iii) Mechanical measures for reducing soil erosion and run off losses: Several mechanical measures like terracing, bunding, bench terracing, till farming, contour cropping, strip cropping etc. are used to minimize run-off and soil erosion particularly on the slopes of watersheds.

(iv) Scientific mining and quarrying: Due to improper mining, the hills lose stability and get disturbed resulting in landslides, rapid erosion etc. Contour trenching at an interval of 1 meter on overburden dump, planting some soil binding plants like Ipomoea and Vitex and draining of water courses in the mined areas are recommended for minimizing the destructive effects of mining in watershed areas.

(v) Public participation: People's involvement including the farmers and tribal is the key to the success of any watershed management programs particularly the soil and water conservation.Thanking You,

Gokul

Answer 2

Soil conservation practices in flood-prone areas include building terraces to reduce water runoff, planting cover crops to prevent soil erosion, constructing retention ponds to capture excess water, and implementing conservation tillage techniques to minimize soil disturbance. These practices help to protect soil fertility and prevent sedimentation in water bodies during floods.