Soil erosion control by ridges
(Greece)
Καλλιέργεια αμπέλου σε μικρούς αναβαθμούς
Description
The technology consists of shaping the land in small ridges followed an interspaced part in which the main cultivation work of the crop is carried out. Ridges are the place where the plants are growing.
The technology is mainly applied in cultivated land, preferable in vineyards. The main characteristics are (a) shaping the land in ridges of about 25 cm high and 35 cm wide (b) leaving an interspaced part of the land of 200-220 cm. Ridges are the place where the plants are growing, while the interspaced part is used for carrying out all the necessary cultivation practices and harvesting of grapes. The purposes of the technology is to interrupt surface water runoff and to carry out easily the various cultivation works. It can be applied in a sloping land with slope gradient not higher than 12%. The major activities to establish the technology are to use a machine (a tractor) with the appropriate cultivation instrument (a plate) for shaping the land. The benefits of the technology are: (a) reduction in soil erosion, and (b) easily carrying out the various cultivation practices. The land users like it since their work is carrying out easily and store water runoff in the rootzone.
Location
Location: Heraklion perfecture, Crete, Greece
No. of Technology sites analysed: single site
Geo-reference of selected sites
Spread of the Technology: evenly spread over an area (approx. < 0.1 km2 (10 ha))
In a permanently protected area?:
Date of implementation: 10-50 years ago
Type of introduction
-
through land users' innovation
-
as part of a traditional system (> 50 years)
-
during experiments/ research
-
through projects/ external interventions
Cultivation of vines in ridges for interrupting surafce water runoff and storing into the soil (Costas Kosmas)
Cultivation of vines in ridges for reducing surface water unoff and soil erosion. (Costas Kosmas)
Classification of the Technology
Main purpose
-
improve production
-
reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
-
conserve ecosystem
-
protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
-
preserve/ improve biodiversity
-
reduce risk of disasters
-
adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
-
mitigate climate change and its impacts
-
create beneficial economic impact
-
create beneficial social impact
Land use
-
Cropland
- Tree and shrub cropping: grapes
Number of growing seasons per year: 1
Water supply
-
rainfed
-
mixed rainfed-irrigated
-
full irrigation
Purpose related to land degradation
-
prevent land degradation
-
reduce land degradation
-
restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
-
adapt to land degradation
-
not applicable
Degradation addressed
-
soil erosion by water - Wt: loss of topsoil/ surface erosion
SLM group
-
cross-slope measure
-
water harvesting
SLM measures
-
structural measures - S2: Bunds, banks
Technical drawing
Technical specifications
The ridges are shaped by a tractor using a plate with an angle of 30° with respect the line of cultivation. The shaped ridges have a width of about 25 cm and 35 cm and 10-15 cm high, leaving an interspaced part of the land of 200-220 cm. Ridges are the part of the land where plants are growing. The slope gradient can range from 2-12% or a little higher.
Author: Costas Kosmas
Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs
Calculation of inputs and costs
- Costs are calculated: per Technology area (size and area unit: 1 h)
- Currency used for cost calculation: USD
- Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = n.a
- Average wage cost of hired labour per day: 40
Most important factors affecting the costs
Costs are affected mainly during installment (shaping the land and planting materials)
Establishment activities
-
Shaping the land (Timing/ frequency: Winter-early spring)
-
Planting (Timing/ frequency: Winter-early spring)
Establishment inputs and costs (per 1 h)
| Specify input |
Unit |
Quantity |
Costs per Unit (USD) |
Total costs per input (USD) |
% of costs borne by land users |
|
Labour
|
| Clearing the land |
person-days |
1.0 |
40.0 |
40.0 |
100.0 |
| Shaping of ridges |
person-days |
0.5 |
40.0 |
20.0 |
100.0 |
|
Equipment
|
| Tractor including shaping instrument (plate) |
machine hours |
1.0 |
70.0 |
70.0 |
100.0 |
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology |
130.0 |
|
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD |
130.0 |
|
Maintenance activities
-
Reshaping ridges (Timing/ frequency: Winter-early spring)
Maintenance inputs and costs (per 1 h)
| Specify input |
Unit |
Quantity |
Costs per Unit (USD) |
Total costs per input (USD) |
% of costs borne by land users |
|
Labour
|
| Reshaping ridges by shovel |
hours |
3.0 |
5.0 |
15.0 |
100.0 |
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology |
15.0 |
|
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD |
15.0 |
|
Natural environment
Average annual rainfall
-
< 250 mm
-
251-500 mm
-
501-750 mm
-
751-1,000 mm
-
1,001-1,500 mm
-
1,501-2,000 mm
-
2,001-3,000 mm
-
3,001-4,000 mm
-
> 4,000 mm
Agro-climatic zone
-
humid
-
sub-humid
-
semi-arid
-
arid
Specifications on climate
Average annual rainfall in mm: 470.0
Rainfall occurs mainly from October to May
Mediterranean
Slope
-
flat (0-2%)
-
gentle (3-5%)
-
moderate (6-10%)
-
rolling (11-15%)
-
hilly (16-30%)
-
steep (31-60%)
-
very steep (>60%)
Landforms
-
plateau/plains
-
ridges
-
mountain slopes
-
hill slopes
-
footslopes
-
valley floors
Altitude
-
0-100 m a.s.l.
-
101-500 m a.s.l.
-
501-1,000 m a.s.l.
-
1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
-
1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
-
2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
-
2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
-
3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
-
> 4,000 m a.s.l.
Technology is applied in
-
convex situations
-
concave situations
-
not relevant
Soil depth
-
very shallow (0-20 cm)
-
shallow (21-50 cm)
-
moderately deep (51-80 cm)
-
deep (81-120 cm)
-
very deep (> 120 cm)
Soil texture (topsoil)
-
coarse/ light (sandy)
-
medium (loamy, silty)
-
fine/ heavy (clay)
Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)
-
coarse/ light (sandy)
-
medium (loamy, silty)
-
fine/ heavy (clay)
Topsoil organic matter content
-
high (>3%)
-
medium (1-3%)
-
low (<1%)
Groundwater table
-
on surface
-
< 5 m
-
5-50 m
-
> 50 m
Availability of surface water
-
excess
-
good
-
medium
-
poor/ none
Water quality (untreated)
-
good drinking water
-
poor drinking water (treatment required)
-
for agricultural use only (irrigation)
-
unusable
Water quality refers to:
Is salinity a problem?
Occurrence of flooding
Characteristics of land users applying the Technology
Market orientation
-
subsistence (self-supply)
-
mixed (subsistence/ commercial)
-
commercial/ market
Off-farm income
-
less than 10% of all income
-
10-50% of all income
-
> 50% of all income
Relative level of wealth
-
very poor
-
poor
-
average
-
rich
-
very rich
Level of mechanization
-
manual work
-
animal traction
-
mechanized/ motorized
Sedentary or nomadic
-
Sedentary
-
Semi-nomadic
-
Nomadic
Individuals or groups
-
individual/ household
-
groups/ community
-
cooperative
-
employee (company, government)
Age
-
children
-
youth
-
middle-aged
-
elderly
Area used per household
-
< 0.5 ha
-
0.5-1 ha
-
1-2 ha
-
2-5 ha
-
5-15 ha
-
15-50 ha
-
50-100 ha
-
100-500 ha
-
500-1,000 ha
-
1,000-10,000 ha
-
> 10,000 ha
Scale
-
small-scale
-
medium-scale
-
large-scale
Land ownership
-
state
-
company
-
communal/ village
-
group
-
individual, not titled
-
individual, titled
Land use rights
-
open access (unorganized)
-
communal (organized)
-
leased
-
individual
Water use rights
-
open access (unorganized)
-
communal (organized)
-
leased
-
individual
Access to services and infrastructure
employment (e.g. off-farm)
drinking water and sanitation
Impacts
Socio-economic impacts
Crop production
Quantity before SLM: 20-25 tn/ha
Quantity after SLM: 22-27.5 tn/ha
Ecological impacts
soil moisture
Increase in soil moisture can not be quantified in percentage. It depends on the amount of rain water that will be stored into the soil by preventing runoff by existing ridges.
Cost-benefit analysis
Benefits compared with establishment costs
Short-term returns
very negative
very positive
Long-term returns
very negative
very positive
Benefits compared with maintenance costs
Short-term returns
very negative
very positive
Long-term returns
very negative
very positive
Climate change
Gradual climate change
annual temperature increase
not well at all
very well
not well at all
very well
Adoption and adaptation
Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology
-
single cases/ experimental
-
1-10%
-
11-50%
-
> 50%
Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have done so without receiving material incentives?
-
0-10%
-
11-50%
-
51-90%
-
91-100%
Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions?
To which changing conditions?
-
climatic change/ extremes
-
changing markets
-
labour availability (e.g. due to migration)
Conclusions and lessons learnt
Strengths: land user's view
-
Increase in water storage and decrease in soil loss
Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view
-
Increase in water storage and decrease in soil loss
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome
-
High erosion rates under heavy rainfall
covering the soil with a grass.
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome
-
Gully erosion under heavy rainfall
Cover grass
References
Reviewer
-
Ursula Gaemperli
-
Gudrun Schwilch
-
Alexandra Gavilano
Date of documentation: July 11, 2017
Last update: April 2, 2019
Resource persons
-
Manolis Kokolakakis - land user
-
Costas Kosmas - SLM specialist
Full description in the WOCAT database
Documentation was faciliated by
Institution
- Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) - Greece
Project
- Interactive Soil Quality assessment in Europe and China for Agricultural productivity and Environmental Resilience (EU-iSQAPER)
Links to relevant information which is available online
