Vetiver grass hedgerows for soil and water conservation in tea lands in Sri Lanka-a success story
1996
Navaratnam, R.(Natural Resources Management Centre, Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). Dept. of Agriculture)
Soil erosion is severe in high rainfall Mid and Upland regions of Srilanka where the major crop is tea. 80 percent of this is seedling tea (tea from seeds). The Old Up and Down planting system adopted and absense of vegetative protection to existing mechanical measures results in severe soil erosion. Studies reveal 115 cms top soil lost during last century. This relates to 40 MT/Ha/yr. Unplanned landclearing causes 250 MT/Ha/yr soil loss. Land rested 2 yrs under Managrass (Cympobogon confertiflorus) without mulching results in 120-160 MT/Ha/yr soil loss. New contour planted VP tea during 4 year growth exibits 75 MT/Ha/yr to 20 MT/Ha/yr soil loss mainly due to insufficent mulching. Mechanical measures are generally not accepted due to high cost, repeated reconstruction, high maintenance, while Vetiver grass hedgerows popularly accepted due to low cost, easy application, low maintenance, permanancy once established. No detailed research done on Vetiver hedge rows in tea, but significant results visually observed in its high efficiency of soil and water conservation. This is proved by its increasing adoption by tea estates for this purpose in Srilanka. The Poster presentation will decipt use of Vetiver grass to treat different types of erosion damage in tea lands in Srilanka.
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