Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis

Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practi...

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Autores principales: Adimassu, Zenebe, Langan, Simon J., Johnston, Robyn M., Mekuria, Wolde, Amede, Tilahun
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78546
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author Adimassu, Zenebe
Langan, Simon J.
Johnston, Robyn M.
Mekuria, Wolde
Amede, Tilahun
author_browse Adimassu, Zenebe
Amede, Tilahun
Johnston, Robyn M.
Langan, Simon J.
Mekuria, Wolde
author_facet Adimassu, Zenebe
Langan, Simon J.
Johnston, Robyn M.
Mekuria, Wolde
Amede, Tilahun
author_sort Adimassu, Zenebe
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, surface run-off, soil loss, nutrient loss, and the economic viability, as well as to discuss the implications for an integrated approach and ecosystem services. The review and synthesis showed that most physical soil and water conservation practices such as soil bunds and stone bunds were very effective in reducing run-off, soil erosion and nutrient depletion. Despite these positive impacts on these services, the impact of physical soil and water conservation practices on crop yield was negative mainly due to the reduction of effective cultivable area by soil/stone bunds. In contrast, most agronomic soil and water conservation practices increase crop yield and reduce run-off and soil losses. This implies that integrating physical soil and water conservation practices with agronomic soil and water conservation practices are essential to increase both provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. Additionally, effective use of unutilized land (the area occupied by bunds) by planting multipurpose grasses and trees on the bunds may offset the yield lost due to a reduction in planting area. If high value grasses and trees can be grown on this land, farmers can harvest fodder for animals or fuel wood, both in scarce supply in Ethiopia. Growing of these grasses and trees can also help the stability of the bunds and reduce maintenance cost. Economic feasibility analysis also showed that, soil and water conservation practices became economically more viable if physical and agronomic soil and water conservation practices are integrated.
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spelling CGSpace785462025-07-23T18:05:32Z Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis Adimassu, Zenebe Langan, Simon J. Johnston, Robyn M. Mekuria, Wolde Amede, Tilahun water conservation soil conservation soil fertility soil management crop yield crop production surface runoff erosion erosion control plants nutrients ecosystem services highlands rain organic matter pollution ecology Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, surface run-off, soil loss, nutrient loss, and the economic viability, as well as to discuss the implications for an integrated approach and ecosystem services. The review and synthesis showed that most physical soil and water conservation practices such as soil bunds and stone bunds were very effective in reducing run-off, soil erosion and nutrient depletion. Despite these positive impacts on these services, the impact of physical soil and water conservation practices on crop yield was negative mainly due to the reduction of effective cultivable area by soil/stone bunds. In contrast, most agronomic soil and water conservation practices increase crop yield and reduce run-off and soil losses. This implies that integrating physical soil and water conservation practices with agronomic soil and water conservation practices are essential to increase both provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. Additionally, effective use of unutilized land (the area occupied by bunds) by planting multipurpose grasses and trees on the bunds may offset the yield lost due to a reduction in planting area. If high value grasses and trees can be grown on this land, farmers can harvest fodder for animals or fuel wood, both in scarce supply in Ethiopia. Growing of these grasses and trees can also help the stability of the bunds and reduce maintenance cost. Economic feasibility analysis also showed that, soil and water conservation practices became economically more viable if physical and agronomic soil and water conservation practices are integrated. 2017-01 2016-12-29T07:30:57Z 2016-12-29T07:30:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78546 en Limited Access Springer Adimassu, Zenebe; Langan, Simon; Johnston, Robyn; Mekuria, Wolde; Amede, T. 2016. Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis. Environmental Management, doi: 10.1007/s00267-016-0776-1
spellingShingle water conservation
soil conservation
soil fertility
soil management
crop yield
crop production
surface runoff
erosion
erosion control plants
nutrients
ecosystem services
highlands
rain
organic matter
pollution
ecology
Adimassu, Zenebe
Langan, Simon J.
Johnston, Robyn M.
Mekuria, Wolde
Amede, Tilahun
Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title_full Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title_fullStr Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title_short Impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, run-off, soil loss and nutrient loss in Ethiopia: review and synthesis
title_sort impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield run off soil loss and nutrient loss in ethiopia review and synthesis
topic water conservation
soil conservation
soil fertility
soil management
crop yield
crop production
surface runoff
erosion
erosion control plants
nutrients
ecosystem services
highlands
rain
organic matter
pollution
ecology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78546
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