How does contour ploughing work

Plowing and planting across slope contours create man-made water breaks that not only allows enough time for the water to enter the soil, but also to settles the topsoil without washing it down the slope. On slopes with no contours, water runoff quickly without the soil properly absorbing it and carrying the top fertile soil with it, therefore, leaving a non-fertile land up the slope.

Contour farming also creates water breaks that reduce the formation of gullies and rills when a place experiences heavy rains and water run-off which is the leading cause of soil erosion. For contour farming to be effective, the resulting curved furrows around the slope ought to be on equal levels.

Contour farming can have one crop on the farm or a mixture of several crops through strip cropping. Strip cropping is a type of contour farming where farmers plant different crops in alternating strips of different levels. This method equally prevents soil erosion and can improve soil fertility through crop rotation.

For example, a farmer may plant different crops on different strips of land during alternating farming seasons, such as rotating strips of legumes and corn enables the corn to use nitrogen that the legumes left in the soil. First, contour farming maintains soil fertility by preventing downwash of the fertile topsoil of a farm and consequently enabling betters yields. With the reduced loss of fertility comes the reduced use of fertilizer and a reduced cost of purchasing fertilizers. In most cases, rainwater washes farming fertilizers downstream and consequently contaminating freshwater systems.

Furthermore, water retention improves soil quality, irrigation, and water conservation thus reducing labor that would have gone into physical fetching of water. Other benefits are and time efficiency and reduced use of machines which in turn reduce the wear and tear. In summary, the method tends to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce most of the ills associated with soil erosion on slopes such as habitat destruction.

During the period of Ancient Greek, a thalassocratic ancient Semitic civilization, the Phoenicians, who originated from the Eastern Mediterranean, practiced some of the earliest forms of contour farming. The farmers in Phoenicia land of the palm trees helped spread contour farming throughout the Mediterranean region and eventually many farmers in present-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and parts of Turkey adopted the method, however, the Romans at the time preferred straight furrows.

Over a period, societies who embraced irrigation farming adopted this method of plowing and planting. This practice eventually spread to different parts of Europe who also introduced contour farming to some of their colonies. The first ever recorded contour farming in the US came at the turn of the nineteenth century but the country did not fully embrace this method until during the twentieth century.

By: Tamara Parris CD. Dictionary Dictionary Term of the Day. Drunk Driving. Safeopedia Terms. Meet the Author with Robert J. De Boer. Safety Talks 18 - Heat Stress Preparedness.

The Dangers of Gas in a Confined Space. Preventing Burst Pipes in Aging Buildings. Here's Why It Should Be. Hiring Contractors? Addressing Mental Illness and Workplace Safety. Risk Takers Wanted. 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. Strip cropping on different levels terracing held water and stopped soil from washing away in heavy rain.