Mulching to control soil erosion
In Dominica, natural hazards, such as storms and hurricanes, regularly occur and directly affect agricultural productivity and production. Heavy rainfalls, especially in the late summer and autumn months from August to December, significantly increase susceptibility to landslides and soil erosion and lead to a loss of productive top soils, among others. Therefore, careful soil management practices in crop production are required. Mulching is an on-farm soil conservation strategy to protect the soil from the impacts of heavy rainfalls, storms, and droughts. Besides preventing soil erosion, mulching also reduces weed growth and increases soil moisture, microbial action, and soil fertility.
Author: FAO Strategic Objective 5 – Resilience, in FAO
Organization: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO TECA
Year: 2020
Country/ies: Dominica
Geographical coverage: Latin America and the Caribbean
Type: Practices
Full text available at: https://www.fao.org/teca/en/technologies/8207
Content language: English