CHAPTER- 01

INTRODUCTION
It is more and more agreed that soil degradation is a major threat to the Earth's ability to feed it self as nearly 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. Water erosion is one of the major causes of soil loss and soil degradation. Terracing could be one way to stop or reduce the degrading effect of soil erosion. It is one of the oldest means of saving soil and water. More over, it is the most widely used soil conservation practice throughout the world. Now a days terracing is still in many cases promoted as being a best management practice for effective soil and water conservation.Terracing refers to building a mechanical structure of a channel and a bank or a single terrace wall, such as an earthen ridge or a stone wall. Terracing reduces slope steep ness and divides the slope into short gently sloping sections .Terraces are created to intercept surface runoff, encourage it to infiltrate, evaporate or be diverted towards a pre determined and protected safe outlet at a controlled velocity to avoid soil erosion . The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of terracing on soil erosion. We reviewed existing literature provided by scientific journals, soil conservation services and related organisations. This paper provides information on the functioning of terraces, the existing types of terraces and further it describes advantages and disadvantages of terraces regarding their efficacy to stop or reduce soil erosion. Bunds and terraces are the most commonly used soil conservation measures on the cropping lands by the farmers. And yet in practice most people do not construct them properly. This booklet was necessitated by the observed in ability of many trainees of soil conservation courses to conceptualize, plan and implement various types of bunds and terraces for soil conservation. Introduction to Soil Conservation.Bunds are made on

cropping lands up to 6 to 8 per cent slopes and terraces are constructed on slopes ranging between 8 to 30 per cent. Bunds and terraces are the simplest of the structures and yet for the proper planning and construction, we need to know quite a bit of engineering procedures and certain theoretical calculations. These calculations are rather difficult for ordinary people to follow and yet they shall be simplified in this booklet to make them intelligible to them. Terracing should never be done on slopes greater than 30 per cent. Where as due to the scarcity of land people are making terraces on the slopes greater than 30 percent. Before we go into the details of the planning of the construction bunds and terraces we need to see the relationship between the soil, top soil, organic matter and soil moisture.During an intense storm, a large part of the rainfall arriving at the soil surface infiltrates, depending on the soil type. The remainder becomes runoff, whichh concentrates in natural depressions and runs down hill until it reaches natural zones of deposition. If runoff increases, so does velocity, volume and erosiveforce. The critical runoff velocity, at which soil particles that have been detached from soil aggregates begin to be transported over the surface, is 5 m/s in sandysoils and 8 m/s in clay soils. Terraces belong to the type of soil management practices that aim to protect an area against runoff by systematic land planning. The same accounts for storm water drains and permanent vegetation barriers.The principal objective of terracing is generally to reduce the runoff andthe loss of soil, but it also contributes to increasing the soil moisture content through improved infiltration and to reducing peak discharge rates of rivers.Beach and Dunning state that terracing also could promote rock weathering and eventually increases crop growth.there are hardly any figures showing significantly increased yields in the first five to ten years after terracing.Local conditions and the dimensions, form and stability of the

terraces determine the efficacy of terraces . The efficiency of a terrace system increases by applying additional conservation practices such as appropriate land preparation (contour ploughing and sowing), appropriate cultivation of crops and maintaining a permanent soil cover. Growth in the derivatives markets has brought with it an ever increasing volume and range of interest rate dependent derivative products. To allow protable, in these products, accurate and mathematically sound valuation techniques are required to make pricing, hedging and risk management of the resulting positions possible. The importance of managing interest rate risk cannot be overstated and bond futures are widely used to hedge interest rate risk on long maturities, especially by swap dealers that need to cover their risk against various points of the interest rate curve. Bond futures bear an additional risk often referred to as the basis risk the price diferential between the cash bond and the underlying bonds price for future delivery implied by the futures contract compared to a swap. Bond futures traded on an exchange are a very liquid product and hence a key component of the global bond markets. The nominal value of the bonds represented by daily trading, far exceed the actual value of the cash bond market.It self and the futures market is arguably as important as the cash market. The futures contract are used as the main hedging and risk management tool by cash bond traders and investors and thus are essential to maintain liquidity and transparency in the market. The aim of this paper is to derive an implementation method for pricing the bond futures contract. In particular, we will study the German Euro bund contracts that are traded on the Eurexchange. The method for doing this is outlined below. The mathematical recipe we employ is to a large 4

extent inspired by van Straaten in his 2009 master thesis. It should be noted that all financial theories follows from well established and widely published work in financial mathematics. The main objective of this paper is to present a hands-on computational and implementation aspect to bond futures pricing. Computational structures and formulations are presented and analysed. Within recent years an ever increasing understanding of the effects of Pleistocene 1aciation has solved many problems that used to be considered too complex for comprehension. During this period extensive investigations in New Zealand have revealed valuable information concerning glaoiation in this part of the world and a glacia1 chronology has been established. In the wake of this attainment, the author has attempted to interpret the late Pleistocene history of a small intermontane basin of the Southern Alps.The field work for this study was completed during the summer (January and February) of 1958 while the author was associated with Canterbury University, Christohurch, on a Fu1briht Scholarship.A bond future is a futures contract that obliges the holder to buy or sell a bond at maturity. Bond futures contracts are a widely used trading and risk management instrument and an important part of the bond markets. The contracts are mainly used for hedging and speculative purposes by traders and portfolio managers. Most futures contracts on exchanges around the world trade at 3-month maturity intervals. Generally the maturity dates are fixed at March, June, September and December each year. This is also the case for the German Bund futures that are traded on the Eurexchange, the leading clearing house in Europe. Since the maturity dates are fixed, at pre-set times during the year a contract for each of the four months will expire. Settlement price will be determined for the contract. Usually the most liquid trading takes place only in the front month contracts

(the contract closest to maturity) and the further out in maturity one goes the less liquid the trading is in that contract. The underlying asset of a bond futures contract consists of a basket of bonds. The delivery basket consists of several bonds with different coupons and maturities. Every bond in the delivery basket will have its own conversion factor which is needed to be able to compare the different bonds. The theory behind the conversion factor is to equalise coupon and accrued interest differences of all the delivery bonds provided that the interest rate curve is at with a given yield. The design of the bond futures purposely avoids a single underlying security. One reason for this is that if the underlying bond should lose liquidity, perhaps because it has been accumulated over time by buy and hold investors and institutions, then the futures contract would lose its liquidity as well. If we assume that there is only one bond delive rable in the futures contract, a trader may product by simultaneously purchasing ablarge fraction of that bond issue and a large number of contracts. As the short party of the contract scrambles to buy that bond to deliver or buy back the contract she has sold, the trader can sell the holding of both bonds and contracts at prices well above their fair values. However, by making shorts hesitant to take positions, the threat of a squeeze can prevent a contract from attracting volume and liquidity. The concept of the conversion factors was developed by CBOT in the 1970s and has since been a standardised tool when dealing with bond futures. The conversion factor gives the price of an individual cash bond such that its yield to maturity on the delivery day of the futures contract is equal to the notional coupon of the contract. The notional coupon in the contract speci_cation has relevance in that it is the basis of the calculation of each bond's conversion factor; otherwise it has no bearing on understanding the price 6

behaviour of the futures contract. The FGBL contract that we are studying in this thesis has a notional coupon of 6%. Each bond in the delivery basket is given a conversion factor and the factor for a bond will change over time, but remains fixed for one individual contract. For the FGBL contracts it is assumed that the cash ows from the bonds are discounted at six percent and the notional amount equals to one. This means that when a bond has a yield of six percent, the conversion factor is equal to one. Further, if the bond has a yield larger than six percent, the conversion factor is larger than one but due tothe pull-to-par effect the shorter the maturity, the closer the conversion factors come to one. Likewise, when the yield of a bond is less than six percent, the conversionb factor is smaller than one, but with shorter maturity the conversion factor converges to one. Comparing bonds with different maturity and both with coupons lower than the notional; we will see that the conversion factor is smaller for the bond with longer maturity. The opposite holds for bonds hat carry coupons in excess of the notional coupon rate; the conversion factor is larger for the bond with longer maturity. This effect follows from the fact that bonds with coupons lower than the current market rates will trade at a discount. Since it is a disadvantage to hold a bond paying lower coupon than the market rates for a longer period of time, the discount is larger for the longer maturity bond. Conversely, bonds with coupons above the current market yields trade at a premium which will be greater the longer the maturity. Although the conversion factors equalise the yield on bonds, bonds in the delivery basket will trade a different yields, and for this reason they are not equal at the time of delivery. Certain bunds will be cheaper than others and one bund will be the cheapest to deliver bund. The cheapest to deliver bond is the one that gives the greatest return from a 7

strategy of buying a bund and simultaneously selling the futures contracts and closing out the position at the futures expiry. This type of strategy is referred to as cash-and-carry trading and is pursued by proprietary traders who actively exploit arbitrage price differentials between the future and the cheapest-to-deliver bund. Summarising the features of the conversion factor.The conversion factor is used to calculate the invoice price of a bund that is delivered into a futures contract Conversion factors remain constant for a bund from the moment they are determined to the expiry of the contract. How Conversion factors are different for each bund and for each contract and exhibit the pull-to-par effect. Bunds with coupons greater than the notional coupon have a conversion factor higher than one, while bunds with coupons lower than the notional coupon have a conversion factor lower than one.

Objective:
The investigation and observation has been carried out on the basis of following objectives. To prepare the model of Bund and Terrace system.

CHAPTER-02

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Water is essential for all kind of biological life. Its utility in the agriculture sector has its prime importance. Unfortunately, the water availability is decreasing through out the world and same is the case for Pakistan. On the other hand it is also being polluted due to excessive accumulation of salts, use of chemical fertilizers, organic wastes and due to uncontrolled insecticides, pesticides sprays. Therefore, conservation of water is essential to overcome its shortage to meet the crop water requirement and other needs. Various strategies are being employed all over the world to tackle this issue. In areas where rainfall is low and water is scarce, local people areusing different conservation techniques that are suited to their region to fulfill their crop water demand.

2.1 Different Conservation Techniques to Control Soil Erosion and Enhance Soil productivity:
Various conservation techniques have been used or being used to reduce soil loss and increase soil fertility and conserve soil moisture for enhancing soil productivity. These include terracing (Quine et al., 1999a,b, Dercon, et al., 2003, Fu et al., 2003 & 2004 and Acharya et al., 2008), mulching (Lal, 1997), use of different cover crops such as ground nut, cereals (wheat), ginger, mung bean and vegetation (Gardner and Gerrard, 2003, Augus et al., 1997, Acarya et al., 2008, Bellot et al., 2001 and Huang et al., 2006) and establishment of forests (Burton et al., 1989). Terracing is the conversion of the sloppy lands into leveled fields (terraces) for reducing soil and water erosion, maintaining soil fertility soil productivity and soil biological health for sustaining arable crop production. It is mostly adopted on hilly, arid 10

and semi arid areas. This practice has been adopted in India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Canada and Australia (Lasanta et al., 2001). This technique is deigned in such a way that it reduces the erosive velocity of run off in high rainfall areas and conserves soil moisture in low rainfall areas. Mostly two types of terracing are adopted through out the world such as broad base terraces and bench terraces. The broad base terraces could be channel terraces or ridge terraces which have been usually adopted for arable crop cultivation. The bench terraces could be level bench terraces which are quite common in Pothwar (Kahuta, Murree area) and Northern Hilly areas and are suitable for high to medium rainfall , or sloping and reverse slope bench terraces which have been used for soil conservation in Malaysia (Hamdan et al., 2000). Terracing reduce the soil slope which ultimately reduces soil loss (Cammeraat, 2004). Steep slopes also enhance the erosive power of running water and the sediment carrying capacity of the stream. By converting sloppy lands into terraces, these lands become useful for agriculture, livestock and society. Therefore, terraces have been indicated suitable techniques for water conservation in order to improve the soil fertility (Ni and Zhang, 2007 and Gardner and Gerard, 2003). Terracing reduces the erosive velocity of runoff to control the soil erosion. Soil erosion affects the physical, chemical and biological properties of sloppy lands. This causes reduction in soil nutrients which play an important role for the sustainability of crop production to meet the grain demands for population (Lal, 1988). The terraces also enhance the soil biological and chemical properties as compared to the hill slopes (Zhang et al., 2006). The research work conducted by various scientist indicate that the soil fertility such as N, P, K, CaCO3 and cation exchange capacity was present maximum in terraced lands

11

(Quine et al., 1999a,b, Zhang et al., 2004a,b and Dercen et al., 2003) as compared to sloppy lands. The soil chemical properties were found minimum. The terraces can be made more effective in conserving soil in the presence of leguminous crops (Acharya et al., 2008). These crops not only reduce soil loss due to water erosion but also maintain the soil fertility status (Ongprasert and Turkelboom, 1996 and Mc Donald et al., 2002). The growing of leguminous crops such as ginger and mung bean in their respective cropping pattern reduced the erosive velocity of rain water on one side and fixed atmospheric nitrogen from the atmosphere on the other side to improve the soil fertility (Acharya et al. 2008). Fischbeck (2000) evaluated the agricultural terrace productivity in the Maya lowlands of Belize. He planted corn crop on bench terraces at three Late Classic Maya sites in Northwest Belize, including Guijarral, the Liwy group, and the Barba group. He examined the importance of one intensive agricultural system, terracing, in meeting these subsistence needs. Terracing increases the amount of arable land by flattening slopes, capturing soils, and controlling water runoff in areas where erosion prevents cultivation. He concluded that potential corn yield of terrace increased 18.3 % of Guijarral than other sites. Sandor and Gersper (1987) compared the soil fertility status of old and newly developed terraces in Maxico. They collected the soil samples from both sites and analyzed for physio-chemical properties of soil. They grew the barley as a test crop on both sites. They critically observed and showed that the old constructed terraces had high soil fertility status and ultimately, higher productivity of cereals (Barley) as compared to the newly build terraces in Mexico.

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Dehan (1995) evaluated the soil conservation techniques and found the suitability of technique for soil conservation. In his study, he used bench terraces, infiltration ditches and contour bunds on arable lands and investigated their efficiency for conservation. He strongly recommended that on arable lands, only biological methods of soil conservation alone seem to be insufficient and they need to be supplemented by the construction of physical structures. He concluded that on sloppy lands, soil terraces are best tool for soil conservation to maintain the soil fertility on arable lands. Hamdan et al. (1999) conducted an experiment to determine the effect of slope terracing on soil quality in some oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. They collected soil samples from three different terraced-saprolitic profiles at depth of 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm and analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics. Finally, they concluded that the fertility status of the exposed saprolites, despite being less weathered, was poorer than the non-terraced soils. Fielding and Sherchan (1999) elucidated the variability of level and sloping terraces in eastern Nepal and the implications for the design of experiments. They evaluated the sloping and leveled terraces under rainfed conditions. Both terraces were located adjacent to each other. Their soil was subjected to analyses. It was concluded from their observations that there was a variation in the soil characteristics. The soil fertility under both terraces was found maximum in the central area as compared to the terrace embankments. It was recommended that the crops near the terrace riser should be fertilized well due to low soil fertility. While on the slope, fertility gradient was present from the top to bottom in ascending order.

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Poudela and West (1999) conducted his experiment on mountain soils, upper foot slopes, lower foot slopes and on alluvial terraces. They studied the fertility status of these sites. The soil samples were collected from these sites and analyzed for physico and chemical characteristics. The results showed lowest level of the available K and the potential buffering capacity for K, while the upper foot slopes had the highest level of available K. The potential buffering capacity for K values were lower for Inceptisols than for Oxisols and they were found to be positively correlated with soil pH. There was a large difference between the cation-exchange capacity and the effective cation-exchange capacity, an indication of a large pH-dependent charge. Mountain soils showed lower base saturation than soils representing the upper foot slopes, the lower foot slopes, and the alluvial terraces. Li and Lindstorm (2001) evaluated the soil quality-soil redistribution relationship on terraces and steep hillslope. In their study, they evaluated soil quality parameters such as soil organic matter, available phosphorus, nitrogen, bulk density, silt and clay content on the terraced and steep hillslope. Finally, they concluded that the tillage practices on the terraced lands increases the soil fertility while, tillage practices reduces the soil quality due to positive correlation of water erosion. Tang et al. (2002) compared the soil conservation and sustainable management of sloping agricultural lands in China. They introduced the intercropping on slope. They planted hedgerows of perennial nitrogen fixing plants on a contour at a distance of 4 meter to 6 meter and maize plants on slope. When the hedgerow plant grows up to 1 meter tall then he pruned them back to 30-50 cm. The results showed that contour hedgerow is very effective in reducing soil erosion to an extremely low level, effectively

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maintaining or improving soil fertility, considerably enhancing land productivity, and increase farm income. They have also found that surface runoff and soil loss is reduced by 50-70% and 97-99% respectively. Soil nitrogen, soil organic matter and maize yields have increased by 180-280%, 130-150% and 70% respectively on these slopes. The fertility status variability has been shown on terraces along the slope gradient. Wang et al. (2001 & 2003) studied the soil nutrients in relation to land use and landscape position in the semi-arid small catchments on the loess plateau in China. They observed the soil nutrients of hill slopes on fallow lands, crop lands, intercropping lands and wood lands. They have strongly recommended after investigation that the soil fertility trend increases from top to bottom on hill slopes. Dercon et al. (2003) investigated the spatial variability in soil properties on slow forming terraces in the Andes region of Ecuador. They observed that the soil properties vary from the upper to the lower elevations with in various terraces. Response of various crops (wheat and hedgerow) was quite similar to soil fertility as from down to slope on these terraces. They lastly commented that the soil fertility variation on these sites could be mitigated by improving soil fertility through fertilization application. Dijk et al. (2003) carried out a study in which they compared the effectiveness of different terraces such as bare terrace, cropped terrace and mulched terrace against the rain splash in a humid tropical steep land conditions. Their study showed that the cropped terrace has low soil transport mechanism as compared to bare terrace. This effect in cropped terraces was attributed to reduce the erosive impact of rain splash. Ultimately, this activity i.e growing of crop on terraced land reduces the soil erosion, soil

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transportation and enhances the soil fertility.aced and non-terraced treatment, respectively). Hammad et al. (2004) studied the effects of stonewalled terracing techniques on soil-water conservation and wheat production under Mediterranean conditions. They planted wheat crop on terraced and non-terraced plots. Their experimental study was for a period of two years. The results of the experiment showed that the mean soil erosion was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the terraced plots than in those that were non-terraced (182 and 3525 kg/ha during the first season, 1769 and 5057 kg/ha during the second season for terraced and non-terraced plots, respectively). Due to better soil and water conservation, the terraced plots obtained significantly higher total plant dry matter than non-terraced plots (1570 and 630 kg/ha in 2000, 2545 and 889 kg/ha in 2001 for terr sitions as compared to the lower positions of sloppy lands while these properties were almost in uniform status at higher, medium and lower soil terraces (Ni and Zhang 2007). Siriri et al. (2005) studied the crop and soil variability on terraces in the highlands of South Western Uganda. The crop yield was higher on the lower portion of terraces as compared to higher position of the terraces. They correlated the crop yield with the soil properties such as organic carbon, soil nitrogen and bulk density on these terraces. For this purpose, the yield variation on 30 terraces was recorded. The soil properties were analyzed for soil fertility variation within the individual terrace and difference along the slope positions. In order to strengthen their findings, they also carried out a green house study. They examined the fertility gradient by using soils extracted from the upper, middle and lower parts of the terrace. The treatment nitrogen (N) of 70mgNkg-1 was applied. Their data showed that soil bulk density decreased down

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the terraces from 1.41 to 1.18 g cm-3, causing an increase of hydraulic conductivity from 1.6 to 7.3cmh-1, from the upper to the lower part, respectively. Organic carbon (C) and total N increased from upper to lower terrace sections. The lower terraces have more soil fertility as compared to the upper terrace. The fertility status also has been indicated to vary with old and newly developed terraces. Arun et al. (2006) compared the soil fertility status of terrace fields adopted for growing of crops and keeping the other one fallow. They collected the soil samples for physio-chemical properties on these terraced lands. Finally, their findings showed that the bare terraced fields have maximum loss in soil fertility due to the soil erosion and vice versa. At the end, they have strongly recommended for growing of leguminous crops on the terraced lands to maintain the soil fertility of the terraced fields. Ni and Zhang (2007) compared the chemical properties such as P, K and CaCO3 as affected by soil erosion on hill slope and terraces. For this purpose, terraced fields and long slope fields were selected. These fields were selected from hilly areas of the Sichuan Basin in China. At the long slope, maximum soil loss was at the upper slope position and maximum soil deposition at the lower slope position. They used the influence of 137Cs inventories for P, K and CaCO3 at the sloppy and terraced fields. Their findings suggest that the extractable K concentrations and extractable P on the long slop and terrace fields are significantly related to 137Cs inventories due to soil redistribution. This reflects that soil redistribution is closely related to the concentration and distribution of extractable potassium and phosphorus on both sites. The variation in extractable P by soil redistribution was enhanced on the long slope, but was concealed on the terraced fields due to the presence of CaCO3. It is suggested that the variation in extractable P not only

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depends on soil redistribution in relation to fine soil particles, but is also influenced by other factors such as P-fixation onto CaCO3, the concentration of which itself is linked to soil erosion and redistribution. Abbasi et al. (2007) studied the influence of different land cover types on the changes of selected soil properties in the mountain region of Rawlakot Azad Jammu and Kasmir. They studied the soil physico-chemical properties viz. soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, cation exchange capacity, pH, soil texture, bulk density and porosity on natural forest, grass lands arable lands . These lands were present at mountainous region. They have finally recommended that all the physiochemical properties showed the remarkable variable trend. Forest and grass lands have higher concentration of nutrient as compared to the arable lands. The arable lands exhibited extensive degradation through plant nutrient depletion. So, they strongly recommended the growing of grass lands and forests on the mountainous area may become beneficial for the maintenance of soil fertility.

2.2 Soil Moisture Variations on Terraced lands Under Arid Climate

Life depends on water. The crops also need water for their growth and development. The non availability of soil water to the crop at any growth stage will affect the productivity of the crops. This is especially important for sloppy lands under rainfed condition. On sloppy lands, less rain water infiltrates into soil and most of it is lost as runoff due to its fast velocity. In order to cope with this issue various types of terracing are constructed adopted to conserve soil moisture for sustainable crop production. The literature pertaining to soil moisture content on the sloppy lands is presented in this section.

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Qiu et al. (2001 & 2003) evaluated the soil moisture distribution on the hill slopes of loess Plateau, China. For this purpose, they measured the soil moisture biweekly at 0-75 cm soil depth by using Delta-T theta probe. Their findings indicate that with increasing soil depth, the mean soil moisture content increases significantly. The soil moisture trend was observed lower in the surface soil (0-15 cm) of hill slope than to the subsurface soil (10-75 cm soil depth). This might be due to high temperature by exposing the soil surface to sun as compared to the subsurface. Finally, they concluded that maximum soil moisture is accumulated on the subsurface of sloppy lands and strongly recommended for the growing of deep rooted crops. Fu et al. (2003) evaluated the effects of land use on soil moisture variation in the Danangou catchment on the Loess Plateau, China along the slope with crops. The soil profile moisture was measured biweekly at 26 different locations at five depths from 0-75 cm. They concluded that the soil moisture increased down to the depths on the cropped lands along slope. It was strongly recommended by Hartshorn et al. (2006) that the proper management of the sloppy lands is essential in order to conserve soil moisture and nutrients for crop productivity which otherwise will be depleted due to water erosion. Their observations mainly focused on the development of sloppy lands to terraced lands for maximum soil moisture storage and as well as for soil fertility maintenance. Romas and Casasnovas (2006) studied the land leveling effect on soil moisture and runoff variation under various rainfall distributions. Firstly, they converted the barren fields into leveled fields. They conducted their research in the leveled field of vineyard in the Penede`s region (NE Spain). The soil moisture content was measured at 0-60 cm soil

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depths using a TDR tube probe from the twelve locations of the selected sites. Simultaneously, rainfall data was also noted at those sites. The data showed higher soil moisture content at upper part of the slope as compared to the lower part. Liu and Zhang (2007) worked on soil moisture dynamics along a slope and rainfall distribution in Regosols of South West China. On the sloppy plots, they measured the soil moisture content by neutron probe up to 60 cm soil depth. This measurement was adopted after rainfall on those sites. The results showed that soil moisture along the slope was highest in the top soil layer during the period of sporadic rainfall that did not induce any runoff. The coefficients of variation of soil moisture at various slope positions (upper, middle, and lower) were 17.36 to 9.21% at 10-60 cm soil depths The soil water content decreased more rapidly on the upper slope than on the middle and lower slope positions. Brocca et al. (2007) evaluated the soil moisture variability in the experimental areas of Central Italy. They selected different experimental plots located in the small basin of Central Italy. The near-surface volumetric soil moisture content was measured using a portable time domain reflectometer (TDR) over regular grids whose areas ranged from 9 to 8800 m2. The soil samples were analyzed to investigate the moisture pattern as function of wetness conditions. The comparison of the leveled and sloppy fields soil moisture content was analyzed. The results showed that the subsurface leveled filed had more moisture as compared to sloppy lands.

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2.3 Effect of Soil Terracing on Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzymes Activities:
Soil biota is an index for soil fertility which enhances the availability of minerals on the leveled and as well as on the sloppy lands. Soil biological health is primarily dependent on various environmental factors such as aeration, temperature, moisture, texture, crop type and light etc. Among these entire environmental factor, soil moisture is one of the prominent factor for microbial biomass and enzymes activities. In mountainous areas, soil moisture is limiting factor for dry land farming. To conserve soil moisture and reduce runoff soil terracing is adopted. The increase in soil moisture may favor microbial activity to enhance productivity. The literature pertaining to soil microbial biomass and enzymes activities is given below. Dick et al. (1994) determined the soil enzyme activities after 1500 years of terracing in the Colca Valley, Peru. Three soil enzymes such as phosphatase, glucosidase and amidase in the cultivated lands, agricultural terraced lands and barren lands were investigated. Simultaneously, soil nutrients such as organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus were also determined. It was found that levels of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus were greater in terraced land as compared to uncultivated soils. It was also concluded that maintenance of soil enzyme is directly related to various management practices such as rotations with legumes in cropping patterns and additions of animal manures on the terraced lands. Fierer et al. (2003) determined soil microbial biomass and enzymes activities in the profile of the terraced and valley lands. Soil samples were collected up to 2 meter depth down the soil surface. Only 35 % and 45% microbial biomass population was 21

present below 25 cm soil depth in the valley and terraced lands respectively. Finally, it was concluded that less microbial biomass was present in the valley lands as compared to terraced lands. Raiesi (2004) studied the effect of different soil properties such as nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter and organic carbon on the microbial activities in two winter wheat cropping systems. During incubation analyses, he applied three nitrogen rates at 0, 150 and 300 kg ha-1. The carbon storage was mainly dependent on the inputs. The data showed that the application of nitrogen fertilization enhances the microbial biomass and enzymes activities. Leibig et al. (2005) evaluated cropping system effects on soil biological characteristics in Great Plains. They conducted incubation study in laboratory. The soil samples from eight locations under dry land cropping systems were collected. These were analyzed for soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and glomalin. The soil biological properties of conventional and alternative cropping system were compared. It was concluded that alternative cropping system improves soil biological health due to improved retention and recycling of nutrients and maintenance of biodiversity and their habitats. Venkateswarlu et al. (2007) investigated the impact of cover crop incorporation on soil biological carbon, microbial biomass, nutrient build up and grain yield of sorghum/sunflower under rain-fed conditions. They observed leguminous crop under rainfed condition enhances the soil fertility instead of keeping land fallow.

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2.4 Evaluation of Cropping Patterns for Productivity:

In the arid areas of the world, to a large extent, crop productivity depends on rainfall and during drought periods, when the soil moisture is deficient, growth crop is severely affected. Various water harvesting techniques can be adopted to over come water deficiency. The growing of the low water requirement crops is an other option to meet water deficit. Various scientists have conducted research on this aspect which is summarized below. Galantini et al. (2000) compared the long term (15 years) effect of crop rotation and fertilization on productivity, nutrient balance, yield and grain quality of wheat in the semiarid region of Argentina. The treatments tested were wheat alone, wheatgrazing natural grass and wheat-legume with and without fertilizers (N+P) doses. The data showed that the fertilizer application to cereal-legume rotation enhanced the productivity, yield of wheat and nutrient availability in soil. It was concluded that the cereal-legume crop rotation performed best as compared other rotations as the leguminous crop fixed atmospheric nitrogen to meet the demands of crop nutrient. They strongly recommended for the inclusion of cereal-legume rotation in the semi arid environment. Unger (2001) studied an alternative and opportunity dry land crops and related soil conditions in the Southern Great Plains. He concluded that dry land winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] yield increases favorably when rotated or grown continually in the southern Great Plains, but improved water conservation practices make other systems possible for these crops. Chirwa et al. (2004) studied soil moisture depletion pattern in alley cropping under semi arid conditions in Zambia. Maize was grown with Leucaena leucocephala

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and Flemingia macrophylla under semi arid environment. The utilization of soil moisture under drought prone environment by maize and hedgerow plants was monitored. It was concluded that in alley cropping during conditions, there was higher soil moisture contents under the hedgerows than the maize rows, indicating that there was no apparent competition for moisture between the hedgerows and the maize plants. Sadras and Roget (2004) studied the production and environmental aspects of cropping intensification in a semi arid environment of South Eastern Australia .They observed that low and high variable rainfall is major sources of risk for farms in semiarid environments. They estimated opportunity costs and low yield per unit rainfall. They studied the cereal and leguminous based cropping patterns. Then finally recommended that the positive natural resources especially water and nitrogen in the semiarid environment may increase the profit and yield of the crop for farming community. Moroke et al. (2005) conducted an experiment on soil water depletion and root distribution of three dry land crops. They studied root length density (RLD) and soil water depletion patterns under cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.)Walp.] grain Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and Sunflower [ Halianthus annuus (L.)] under no tillage (NT) and stubble mulch tillage (SMT) systems in a torrertic Paleustoll. Results suggest that a rotation of cowpea with sorghum or sunflower would permit the stratified use of soil water and that the storage and crop use of water deep in the profile would be optimized under no tillage. Nielsen et al. (2005) studied the efficient water use in dry land cropping systems in the Great Plains. They followed cropping pattern as wheat, sorghum and fallow in their study at central Great Plains, northern Great Plains and southern Great Plains. They

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explained that water use efficiency and precipitation use efficiency increase with residue management practices that increase precipitation storage efficiency and cropping sequences that minimize fallow periods, and use of appropriate management practices for the selected crop. It was concluded that throughout the Great Plains region, precipitation use efficiency decreases with more southern latitudes for rotation of similar make up of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and grasses. Tanaka et al. (2005) conducted an experiment to evaluate the crop sequencing to improve use of precipitation and synergize crop growth. He planted wheat, flax and sunflower in his study. He observed that cropping systems will not be sustainable without change. In the central Great Plains, water-use efficiency of winter wheat was improved 18 to 56% by including broadleaf crop in a grass-based rotation. Cropping systems in the northern Great Plains tend to be more diverse and suggested that seed yield of flax (Linum usitatissium L.) can be tripled with a safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)flax crop sequence vs a flaxflax crop sequence. Karlen et al. (2006) studied the crop rotation effects on soil quality at three northern corn/soybean belt locations. The results showed nonlinear curves reflecting performance of critical soil functions (nutrient cycling, water partitioning and storage, and plant root growth). Extended rotations had a positive effect on soil quality. Khaliq et al. (2007) studied the sustainable cropping system for rain-fed areas of Pothwar, Pakistan. They studied three cropping systems viz. fallow-wheat-fallow wheat, maize (fodder)-wheat-maize (fodder)-wheat and mungbean-wheat-mungbean wheat and used various tillage treatments. It was concluded that under the normal conditions, legume based cropping systems was more remunerative than the fallowwheat cropping

25

system. Similarly, the Mungbean crop was also found sensitive to drought condition which ultimately reduces the yield. Overall, the crop productivity depends upon the rainfall. Yunus and Rashid (2007) studied the productivity and rotational benefits of grass, medic pasteurs and faba beans in a rainfall limited environment. They evaluated the growth process for pulses, growth and yields for wheat and barley in a three crop rotation systems. Their findings showed that the rotation with faba beans produced higher yields following cereals than with the pastures. The cereals crops do not provide the N supply as compared to the leguminous crops in the relay rotation under low rainfall conditions. As, the leguminous crops maintain the soil fertility by fixing the atmospheric nitrogen. So, they strongly recommended for inclusion of leguminous crops in the cropping systems under limited rainfall environment.

26

CHAPTER -03

27

MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 Bunds:

Bunds are the most common soil conservation measures adopted by people in most of the cultivated lands. Bunds are ridges or embankments or long and narrow projections constricted on the surface on the land at selected places and in selected directions. The bunds may be of different sizes and heights and constructed for various purposes. The earthen dam is also a bund; but is constructed to stop and store large amount of water coming down through a river: for example Hirakud darn. Bunds have a top width and a bottom width. Sometimes the top may be made round instead of flat. The top width will always be less or at the most equal to one-third width of the bottom width. For the same height and width (top and bottom) the bund can be of any length in any direction. Bunds are usually made on lands less than 8 % slope. Between two bunds is the space of land either terraced or left unterraced and used for cultivation.

3.1.1 Types of bunds:

Depending on the purpose the bunds are classified as contour bunds, graded bunds, side bunds, lateral bunds, marginal bunds and shoulder bunds.

A-

Contour bunds:
When bunds are constructed across the slope in a contour line they are called

contour bunds. They are constructed to reduce the length of the slope by dividing

28

slope into different sections and to impound the running water at different sections to increase percolation.

Fig:-3.1 layout of contour bund They are normally constructed on lands with 1-6 per cent slope. But bunds may be constructed up to eight per cent slope.

B-

Graded bunds:
When the contour bunds are made with slight deviation from the contour line

towards one direction to drain out the surplus water that may occur during the rain, they are called graded bunds. For a casual observer the graded bunds look like contour bunds. Graded bunds are made on land with slope between 2-8 per cent.

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Fig:-3.2 Graded bund

C-

Side bunds:
Side bunds are the bunds that are constructed at the extreme ends of the contour

bunds along the line of slope. But in the case of graded bunds the side bund is constructed as part of the drainage channel on the side towards which the water is drained. But side bunds are constructed on both sides of the contour and graded bunds.

D-

Lateral bunds:
Bunds constructed along the slope between two side bunds in order to prevent

concentration of water along one side and to break the length of the contour bund into convenient bits are called lateral bunds. Usually the lateral bunds are constructed when the contour or graded bunds are more than 300 metres long. Like the side bunds the

30

lateral bunds also should be accompanied by drainage channel to drain out the excess of rain water.

E-

Marginal bunds:
Bunds constructed along margins of the watershed, boundaries, road margins,

river or stream margins, gully margins and the like are called marginal bunds. They serve as boundary bunds.

F-

Shoulder bunds:
Shoulder bunds are those constructed at the outer edge of a terraced plot. When a

terraced plot is used for wet paddy cultivation it is bunded on the outer side in order to retain the water. Some times shoulder bunds are constructed in order to prevent the rain water flow out of the terraced plot and there by allow more percolation into the plot.

3.1.2 Structure of a bund:

The basic structure of the bund is trapezoidal. It has a wider bottom, narrow top width, two sloping sides and a height. The sides are equal when .the bund is constructed on a plain ground. But when they are constructed on a slope the bottom of the bund will be the same as the slope of the land and the side of the bund on the slope side will be more than that of the side on the bund on the upper side of the slope and as a result the basic trapezoidal structure is changed.

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Fig:-3.3 Structure of bund Regarding planning of field bunds the readers will come across literatures and engineers with different theories and practices. To the ordinary man they all may be confusing. Besides there are a number of calculations to decide the height the top width bottom width and the slope of the sides of the bunds. These depend on the slope of the land, the amount of rain fall of the place, the vertical interval of bunds and the type of soil. These calculations are difficult for ordinary peopIe. 32

However all these rules and calculations can be reduced to some simple guidelines as following 1. The bunds on a gently sloping land for soil conservation; are made in contour lines. 2. The distance between two bunds of the same height are kept in such a way that lower bund should be 30 cm higher than the bottom line of the upper bund. 3. The maximum height of the field bunds is not kept more than 80 cm. 4. Normally the top width of the bund is made equal to the height of the bund 5. The minimum slope of the sides of the bunds would be 1:1 for clay soils. 6. The slope of the side of the bunds is around 1:2 to 1:2.5 for loamy soil. 7. The slope of the side of the bunds is around 1:3 to 1:5 for sandy soil. 8. When contour bunds are made on the slopes the length of the lower side slope of the bund will be longer than the length of the upper side slope. In other words the slope of the upper side of the bund will be steeper than the slope of the lower side even in the clay soil. 9. Take the bottom soil for bund making and save the top soil. 10. Take the soil for bund making from lower side of the bunds, never from the upper side. 11. One should be able to walk over the bunds as a path without their getting destroyed or sunkened. 12. The area of cross section of the bund is maintained around one square metre for field bunds.

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The shape and structure of the bunds are adjusted according to these twelve guidelines.

3.1.3 Construction of bund:

While constructing the bunds care should be taken that the top soil is not used for the bund making. For this the top soil from the area which will be occupied by the bund and the area from where the soil is taken for the construction of bund should be scraped off and be kept aside and later it is spread on the place from where the bottom soil was taken for the construction of the bund. There are a number of theoretical and practical aspects for the construction of the bunds according to various literatures and engineers. These may be unintelligible to most of the people who want to construct the bunds in their field. However some simple guidelines may be given as follows. These procedures are more suitable for the construction of contour bunds and graded punds. Suitable adjustments and modifications are done for the construction of other types of bunds. The procedure is as follows. 1. Demarcate the contour lines of the bunds at distances following the first guide line given regarding the structure of the bund. 2. Estimate the bottom width, top width, height and the slopes of both sides of the bunds. 3. If one wants to level gradually the land between two bunds take bund making soil only from the lower side of the slope in relation to the bund. 4. Note the area from which the bottom soil is to be taken to make the bund.

34

5. Demarcate the area for taking the bund-making soil leaving about 30 -45 cm away from the lower edge of the bottom side of the bund. This strip of land between the bund and the area from where the bund-making soil is taken is called berm. 6. Demarcate the area on the slope occupied by the bottom of the bunds, the berm and the area from which the bund making soil is taken and the channel between berm and the plot. 7. Scrape the top soil from these areas except berm and keep it at the lower side. 8. Slightly stir the soil of the area where the bottom of the bund will be resting so that the newly placed soil may be well jointed with the bottom soil already there. 9. The bottom soil is dug up in uniform depth from the area from which the soil is to be taken for the bund making. 10. The dug up soil is placed on the stirred up area and gradually make the bund as per dimension of the bottom width, top width, the height and the slope of the sides of the bund. 11. Compact very well every basket of soil placed for the bund making. Employ enough people specially for compacting. 12. The stone gathered while digging the bottom soil may be placed on the berm as a basal support to the bund being made. However placing too many stones may not be advisable. They can be better burried in the bund itself. 13. Check periodically the alignment of the contour line and the dimensions of the bund being made. 14. After the construction of the bund is over the top soil is pushed into the area from where the bund-making soil was taken.

35

15. If graded blinds are made leave a trench of suitable width and depth just next to the berm on the lower side while filling the excavated area with the top soil and make a proper outlet for the excess water at the end on the graded bunds to drain out into the trench from the upper side. 16. Still excess drainage water is there make a common drainage from the all the trenches of all the plots. 17. Plant suitable trees on the bunds which will be allowed to grow straight up by pruning the branches periodically. 18. Make sure that the plants grow well and straight up. 19. Repair bund in case any damage occurs during the construction period.

3.1.4 Construction material:

Bunds are mostly made of soil though they can be made of any material. Depending on the material the bunds may be classified in to the following. 1. Bunds made of mud or soil, 2. Bunds made of stones and soil together, 3. Bunds made of stones alone by arranging them heaped in a line, 4. Bunds made of wood or wooden pieces, 5. Bunds made of wood and soil together, 6. Bunds made of cement and bricks, 7. Bunds made of cement and stones, 8. Bunds made of clay and stones, 9. Bunds made of clay and bricks, 10. Bunds made of wire mesh and stone like gibbons, 36

11. Bunds made of stone or bricks on one side and other side soil, 12. Bunds with double walls on both sides made of stones or bricks with cement or clay with lime, 13. Bunds made of soil and grasses or bushes and trees, 14. Bunds made of a combination of soil, stones and any type of vegetation etc. From the names anyone can understand the constructional materials needed the shape it assumes while constructing and the constructional details. The choice of the material depends on their availability, finance, purpose, strength and durability required.

3.2

Terracing:
Terracing is perhaps the second most commonly used method for soil

conservation cropping land. Terrace is cut and leveled portion of land on a slope. The width of the terrace depends on the degree or the percentage of slope. Greater the slope lesser will be the width of the terrace for the same height of the cut portion to make the terrace. Terraces are classified on the basis of width, slope and the material used for the construction of the terrace wall.

Fig: Plate.1 37

3.2.1 Width
Depending on the width the terraces are divided into broad bed terraces or broad base terraces, broad bench terraces, bench terraces and narrow bench terraces. Width wise though your type of terraces are named. No clear cut divisions are there between these your types. Broadly we can say that broad base terraces are made on slope between 6 to 12 per cent, broad bench terraces made on slope between 12 to 20 per cent, bench terraces made on slopes between 20 to 25 per cent and narrow bench terraces made on slopes between 25 to 30 per cent. At times one may come across different types of classification of terraces based on the width and percentage of slope. One has to make his own decision on the width of these four types of terraces. Three dimensions are taken into consideration while planning to construct terraces: Width of terrace. Vertical interval of terraces and Percentage or degree of slope of the land to be terraced.

These three are related to each other as shown in the formula-

Where, VI is vertical interval, W is width of the terrace, 38

S is percentage of the slope. The vertical interval means the vertical distance between two terraced. The width of the terraces is also known as horizontal interval. The percentage of slope is already explained. The slop of the land normally to be terraced very from 2 to 30 per cent and hence the width and the vertical interval too will be varying. In general it can be said that lesser the slope greater will be the width and lesser will be the vertical interval and vice versa. When the slope is more than 100% or 45 degree angle the width of the terraces will be less than the, vertical interval. Though theoretically speaking we can make terraces on slopes up to 100% or 45 degree angle it is strongly discouraged not to make them on slopes beyond 30% or 17 degree.

3.2.2 Construction
There are a number of calculations recommended to be done while planning for construction of terraces. But all these may be simplified as follows. 1. Keep the maximum width of the terraces up to 50 metres when the slope of the land is 2 per cent. The vertical interval in this case will be one metre. 2. Keep the minimum width of the terraces up to two metres when the slope of the land is 30 per cent. The vertical interval in this case will be 0.6 metre. Once we have estimated the slope of the land to be terraced we can construct the terraces in three ways: Terraces of same vertical interval with varying widths. 39

Terraces of same width and varying vertical interval and Terraces of varying vertical interval and varying widths. While making the terraces the cut portion of $e land will not be exactly vertical but slanting sufficiently to maintain the angle of retention. Hence the actual width of the terraces will be a little less than the calculated width.

3.2.3 Kinds of Terraces:

Depending on the direction of slope terraces are classified as level bench terraces, inwardly slop terraces outwardly sloping terraces and puerto type of terraces. They are briefly explained here.

a.

Level Bench Terrace:

When the terrace is well leveled it is called level bench terrace. When crops like

paddy and sugar cane are planted water should be impounded. When wet paddy is cultivated in terraced lands each terrace will be bounded by a bund to impound the rain or irrigation water.

Fig:3.4 level bench terrace

40

b.

Inwardly Slopping:
When the terraces are sloping towards the hill it is called inwardly sloping

terraces. Each terrace in this case will slope towards the hill ending in a ditch or drain which will collect and sink the water into the soil. Such terraces are built in dry land areas so that whatever rain come maximum run off water is collected and sunk into the land.

Fig:3.5 Inward slopping terrace

c.

Outwardly sloping:

When the terraces are sloping outwards they are called outwardly sloping 1erraces. When crops like maize, potato, vegetable are grown they need drained soil. The slope is given to the terraces in order to drain out the excess of rain water.

Fig:3.6 Outward slopping terrace

41

This type terraces are more suitable for the medium rainfall areas. The vertical interval between the terrace are made very slanting and occupies some space. On this slopes one can plant fodder grasses like napier grass or any other type of perennial grass which will retain the slope as well as give some yield of fodder.

d. Puerto type terrace:

In Puerto type of terracing leveling is done gradually by cultivation. Bunds are constructed on the place where the terrace wall would have been positioned. Between two bunds we get a sloping plot which is usually leveled while making the terraces. But in this case 'no filling is done soon after the bund making as in the case of other types of terrace making, Instead the land is ploughed, harrowed and cultivated from the lower side of each plot turning the sliced soil each plough line towards the lower side. Gradually the plot becomes leveled automatically. In this method we can save the labour and the expenditure on the cutting and transferring of soil from the upper side of the plot to the lower side of the plot. Secondly we retain the top soil and use it while the plot is being leveled gradually. Sometimes we may have to raise the bund further as the plot gets leveled. But always take soil from the bottom side of the bund for the bund making. This method of terracing is possible only on slopes less than 5 to 6 per cent. Slope greater than this will not be able to retain the soil from the influence of erosion forces when it is being cultivated and cropped. This method also may not be suitable for areas with high rainfall which erodes the top soil in most of the cases.

42

e. Stone walled terraces:

Terracing the sloping land is an ancient way of land development for agriculture. Most of the terraces are built with mud walls which collapse very frequently. As a result the cultivation of the collapsed area is disrupted and the possible income is lost for few years. Beside quite a lot of top soil is lost tor ever. Terraces are permanent assets which will give regular income if they are cultivated properly. They should be permanently made/with non collapsible walls. In this matter we can learn from the experience of people in some parts of the world where they make terraces with walls built of stones packed with soil. This is possible wherever stones are available abundantly. Where stone are not available burned bricks or cement hollow blocks can be used. The method is briefly explained as follows. 1. Demarcate the line of terrace wall. It can be straight line or contour line. 2. Dig up trench of about one to one and half feet as a foundation for the stone wall. 3. Collect enough stones from the surrounding areas or bring enough bricks. 4. One sided wall is built. The stones are arranged one above the other in such a way that they are able to withstand the force of gravity and maintain the angle of retention. In other words the angle of retention is maintained while arranging the stones. The stones are arranged in such a way that on one side they are in the same plane as we see in any wall. Whereas the inner side the stones are positioned in irregular manner and the gap between the mud wall and the arranged stones is packed with soil so that the soil becomes a binding force between the stones. The

43

full length of the wall is completed to a height sufficient enough to have its height a little higher than the bottom of the upper terrace wall. Similarly the terrace walls can be made of bricks, cement blocks etc. The terrace wall takes about one year to establish it self and well established stone wall will last many years and the terraces can be used for any type of cultivation.

3.3

Agro-forestry:
On the field bunds and the edges of the mud walled terraces suitable timber or fire

wood trees can be planted. Planting trees on the edges of the stone walled terraces is not advisable as they may break the stone walls. They are planted better in the east-west direction. But they can be planted in any direction provided they are kept pruned of their branches and made to grow straight upwards. Shisham and jackfruit trees are very suitable for growing on the bunds and edges of the terraces. They are multipurpose trees excellent as timber trees, for fire wood. Shisham being a legume, is very good for fodder and green manure purposes. Other trees suitable for agroforestry are subabul and mulberry. One can always find a few suitable species of multipurpose trees every place in India. All the fruit trees that need pruning or can withstand pruning like jackfruit trees and drumstick trees also can be planted as agro-forestry on the bunds and the edges of the terraces. Establishing agroforestry on the bunds and edges of the terraces is very profitable in the long and short run especially for the small and marginal farmers. In the short run they can get fodder, firewood, green manure and some fruits and in the long run they get substantial amount of money by selling the timber.

44

3.4

Drainage:
In high rainfall areas or in areas where there is overflow of rain water from the

bunded and terraced areas providing effective drainage system is an important factor for the stability of the bunds and terraces. Due to lack of proper drainage facilities in most places the bunds and the terraces are broken almost every year causing loss of top soil and crops. Besides repairing of the bunds and terraces is an unproductive work and expenditure. At times the extent and depth of erosion is such that it cannot be recovered at all. In high rainfall areas graded bunds are made instead of exactly the contour bunds and excess rain water is drained out from all the contour bunds or some of the contour bunds through a side channel. Several side channels may be joined together to form a common channel to drain out all the excess water from an area bunded for agricultural purposes. Similarly drainages should be established in each terraced plot. The drainages are better established at the inner side of the terraced plot. Drainages from several terraced plots can be drained into a side drain. Several side drains can be joined together to form a common drain. The best way to use the excess rain run off water is to collect them into ponds or into earthen tanks. Depending on the amount of water several ponds can be constructed to collect the water from few side channels or from the common channels. The excess water can also be stored in deep and wide contour trenches constructed at suitable places in the land. These trenches can be made impermeable to water by cementing the bottom and the

45

sides. The stored water in any trench can be utilized by simple siphoning out whenever needed. In the case of terraced land depending on the amount of the excess water one or more terraces may be made into ponds into which the excess water is stored and at the time of scarcity the same water is used for irrigation purposes. By ramming the soil and cementing the botrom and the side of the pond we can make the ponds impermeable to water. If we are able to store water more than six months in these ponds we can go for fish rearing as an additional income. Depending on i the area the water can be used for all types of agricultural I purposes like vegetable growing, growing fruit trees, social and agro forestry, fodder crops etc.

3.5

Design Criteria for Bunds:

The following factors are to be considered while developing design criteria for contour bunds.

3.5.1 Allowable submergence of land:

The amount of land submerged due to pending and duration of pending will affect crops. Therefore the level of waste weir and the amount of land to be submerged should be decided by the cropping practice to be followed and the infiltration rate for the soil.

3.5.2 Moisture Conservation:

For paddy lands it is desirable to store all the rain water for the use of the plants. Therefore the bunds should be of such dimensions as to permit no runoff. For other crops, 46

the capacity of the bund should be decided by the average consumptive use of the crop proposed and the maximum length of dry period in growing season. The heights of waste weirs should be such that the bunds store just sufficient water to meet requirement of crop.

3.5.3 Economy in Construction:

The cost of Bunding includes two main atoms which vary according to the spacing of the bunds.

Expenses of the earthwork. Value of land lost permanently due to construction of bunds. The sum of these two should be minimum 3.5.4 Critical Length:
Another approach in fixing the spacing of bunds by determining the critical length of land between adjacent bunds.Increase in drainage area increases both velocity and amount of runoff gathering in narred channel. But the critical length approach, the attempt is to space bunds in such a way that the velocity remains within non-erosive limit.

3.5.5 Seepage consideration:

While designing the bund cross- section, the seepage through bunds due to accumulation of water behind it should be taken into account. The seepage rate is 47

affected mainly by the head of water impounded, the side slopes of the bound and the permeability of the soil.

3.6

Function:
These terraces act primarily as drainage channel to regulate and conduct runoff at non erosive velocity. To make the runoff water to trickle rather than to rush out.

3.7

Materials:
Floor slabs and bund walls, must be impervious to, and compatible with, the

liquids to be contained. Concrete is recommended as it is robust and generally impervious; however, it should be of a standard, or provided with a coating (eg acid resistant), that ensures that it is impervious during service. For large tank farms, impervious proprietary liner systems may be used with the written approval of the EPA. In such cases, its permeability shall not be more that 10-9m/s for the liquid to be contained. Also it must be installed and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer specifications.

3.7.1 Joints:
Concrete bunds should be poured integrally with the slab. When joints are used in concrete or masonry systems, they should be sealed with a suitable sealant material that is impervious to, and compatible with, the liquids to be contained.

48

3.8

Maintenance And Operation:

Procedures should be in place which ensure that Additional bunds are installed as needed. The integrity of existing bunds is maintained. Ponding of collected stormwater should be minimised by regular disposal. Spills are cleaned up immediately, with the necessary equipment and adsorbent kept on hand and Where filling occurs, over fill controls should be installed.

49

CHAPTER-4

50

CONCLUSION
Bunding and terracing are the most common soil conservation methods employed by farmers from the ancient times onwards. People followed these methods traditionally to develop their sloping lands to conserve the soil for cultivation. Farming is no more a traditional occupation; it has become a business in which science and technology are applied just like in any other field of human involvement. We need to have proper and scientific understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of the bund and terrace making so that even people who are not traditionally the farmers can make them and develop a sloping land. Slope is the major factor that decides whether one should go for bunds or terraces over a given place. Bunds are recommended on slopes up to 6%, broad base terraces are made on slopes between 6 to 12% slope, broad bench terrace on slopes between 12 to 20 % slope and bench terraces on slopes between 20 to 25 per cent and narrow bench terraces on slope between 25 to 30 per cent. Well laid out drainage structures should be part of the bunded and terraced land. It is foolishness to make bunds and terraces on the agricultural land without the drainages. Excess drainage water should be collected in well constructed trenches and ponds located at strategic positions in the land.

51

REFERENCES:
Ritter, J. B., Miller, J. R., Enzel, Y., Howes, S. D., Nadon, G., Grubb, M. D., Hoover, K.A., Olsen, T., Reneau, S. L., Sack, D., Summa, C. L., Taylor, I., Touysinhthiphonexay, K. C. N., Yodis, E. G., Schneider, N. P., Ritter, D. F., and Wells, S. G., 1993, Quaternary evolution of Cedar Creek alluvial fan, Montana: Geomorphology, 8, 287-304. Roe, G. H., Montgomery, D. R., and Hallet, B., 2002, Effects of orographic precipitationvariations on the concavity of steady-state river profiles: Geology 30, 143-146. Rogers, J. B. and Smartt, R. A., 1996, Climatic influences on Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy and terrace formation in the Jemez river valley, New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 47, p. 347-356. Rogers, J. B., 1996, The fluvial landscape evolution of San Diego Canyon, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico [M.S. Thesis]: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico, 123 p. Rogers, M. A., Kues, B. A., Goff, F., Pazzaglia, F. J., Woodward, L. A., Lucas, S. G., and Gardner, J. A., 1996, First-day road log, from Bernalillo to San Ysidro, southern Nacimiento Mountains, Guadalupe Box, Jemez Springs, Valles Caldera, and Los Alamos: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 47, p. 1-40. Roy, M., Kelley, S., Pazzaglia, F. J., Cather, S., and House, M. A., 2004, Middle Tertiary buoyancy modification and its relationship to rock exhumation, cooling, and subsequent extension at the eastern margin of the Colorado Plateau: Geology, 32, 925-928. 52

Safran, E. B., Bierman, P. R., Aalto, R., Dunne, T., Whipple, K. X., and Caffee, M. W., 2005, Erosion rates driven by channel network incision in the Bolivian Andes: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 30, 1007-1024.

Sak, P. B., Fisher, D. M., and Gardner, T. W., 2004, Effects of subducting seafloor roughness on upper plate vertical tectonism; Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica: Tectonics, 23, 10.1029/2002TC001474.

Schaller, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Veldkamp, A., Tebbens, L. A., Hovius, N., and Kubik, P. W.,

BATJER, L. P., AND SUDDS, R. H. The effects of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia on soil reaction and root growth of apple trees. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 35: 279-282. 1938.

VEIHMEYER, F. J., AND HENDRICKSON, A. H. Soil moisture as an indication of root distribution in deciduous orchards. Plant Physiol. 13(1): 169177. 1938.

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