Why is contour plowing used

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Strip cropping is good for long and steeper slopes while irregular slopes need more than a single key contour line. In getting the key line, farmers should use a contour gauge or a hand level and thereafter plant parallel to the key line. Grassed waterways are also important, especially where there is a high concentration of runoff water while grassed strips come in handy where the contour lines are too sharp for farming equipment to plow.

Other techniques to include are growing bush or tree borders across the slopes vegetative barriers , residue management, and mulching to protect the soil. To better understand the ideal combination of techniques, farmers should have in mind the climate of the region, soil condition, and the angle of the slope. An agricultural land fall under one of the following classifications; extreme, high, moderate, mild, or insensitive in terms of soil sensitivity.

Yeoman devised the Keyline Design that guides contour farming in order to get some minimum ideals. The Keyline Design looks at how specific topographies link to water flow for an optimum use of water on a farm. In the design, contours ought to be made in specific ways to control rainfall runoff and maximize irrigation of undulating land during fast floods without building terraces.

This system also observes that at the end of a contour, the land is always steeper on one side than the other leading to furrows deviating from the true contour when plowing parallel to a contour, thus making rainwater flow to the steeper side and increase erosion.

Planning ahead helps the seemingly difficult contour farming to become easy. Planning involves surveying and estimating the number of contour lines needed and if other methods would be necessary to supplement. For effective yield, farmers should perform regular check and maintenance. Maintenance rectifies unforeseen mistakes as well as repair areas that elements of nature destroyed.

Contour farming is popular on all the inhabited continents of the world. In many countries, both small-scale subsistence farmers and largescale farmers try to overcome slopes through this method. Strip cropping prevents soil erosion and can improve soil fertility.

Mark Owuor Otieno February 8 in Environment. LeRoy Hoffman rented farmland for his entire farming career and remembers when the government urged farmers to change their plowing methods. He says contour plowing created ridges and so the rainwater "wouldn't just come running clear down that hill.

Elroy Hoffman says that today there is much less plowing of any kind going on. Going back and forth over the field fewer times saves fuel costs for the farmer and conserves the soil. In between the strips of crops, farmers sowed plants with dense roots, such as grass or alfalfa.