Soil Erosion and Conservation

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What is Soil Erosion?
Erosion can be defined as the removal of soil particles by the motion of wind or water. Soil erosion is considered to be one of the major concerns of agriculture throughout the world today. The misuse of land, mismanagement of farm land, felling of trees, overgrazing, poor soil and water management are all practices that contribute to soil erosion. Erosion can cause a decline in soil fertility, water supply, and crop yields. Thus it affects the productivity of the land and decreases the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987). Erosion can adversely cause the social-economic conditions of the state to be affected.
Causes of Erosion
Erosion causes floods, silting up of water reservoirs, disruption of communication systems, and disturbance of the social-economic setup of the farming community. Erosion can be categorized into two parts: normal, or geological erosion, and accelerated erosion. ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987). With normal erosion, the effects are not visible on the land surface and soil productivity is not adversely affected. The amount of soil lost through this kind of erosion is equal to the amount of soil formed. With accelerated erosion, however, the effects of erosion are visible on the ground surface and the rate of soil loss is greater than the rate of soil formation ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987).
Agencies of Erosion: Wind and Water
Erosion is mainly caused by two agencies: wind and water. These two processes are active around the world all the time. There are four stages of water erosion: (1) raindrop or splash erosion, (2) sheet erosion, (3) rill erosion, and (4) gully erosion ("Soil erosion...

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