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While erosion is a natural process, human activities have increased by 10–40 times the rate at which soil erosion is occurring globally. [7] At agriculture sites in the Appalachian Mountains, intensive farming practices have caused erosion at up to 100 times the natural rate of erosion in the region. [8]
Soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing a serious loss of topsoil. The loss of soil from farmland may be reflected in reduced crop production potential, lower surface water quality and damaged drainage networks. Soil erosion could also cause sinkholes.
Eroded hilltops due to tillage erosion. Tillage erosion is a form of soil erosion occurring in cultivated fields due to the movement of soil by tillage. [1] [2] There is growing evidence that tillage erosion is a major soil erosion process in agricultural lands, surpassing water and wind erosion in many fields all around the world, especially on sloping and hilly lands [3] [4] [5] A signature ...
An example of drastic soil erosion as a result of agriculture. Large scale farming can cause large amounts of soil erosion. 25 to 40 percent of eroded soil ends up in water sources. Soil that carries pesticides and fertilizers pollutes the bodies of water it enters. [56]
Tillage erosion is the soil movement and erosion by tilling a given plot of land. [3] A similar practice is contour bunding where stones are placed around the contours of slopes. Contour plowing has been proven to reduce fertilizer loss, power, time consumption, and wear on machines, as well as to increase crop yields and reduce soil erosion.
In the Caribbean region, overgrazing is a threat to vegetation areas where there is livestock farming, which is an important source of livelihood and food security for many people. a combination of small scale livestock farming with small ruminants, and mixed farming is practised. However, livestock consume vegetation faster than it can be ...
The most relevant human-induced causes of soil compaction in agriculture are the use of heavy machineries, tillage practice itself, inappropriate choice of tillage systems, as well as livestock trampling. Use of large and heavy machineries for agriculture often causes not only topsoil but subsoil compaction. Subsoil compaction is more difficult ...
Shifting cultivation is a farming system which sometimes incorporates the slash and burn method in some regions of the world. Erosion causes loss of the fertile top soil and reduces its fertility and quality of the agricultural produce. Modern industrial farming is another major cause of erosion.