Bench Terracing in the Nilgiris

When forest lands with the vegetative cover were first cleared for cultivation, soil erosion started as one of the natural effects of such colonization. Its consequences compelled the adoption of some sort of mechanical structures in the later stages like terraces to prevent land from becoming completely useless. Some lands were terraced mainly for utilizing them with irrigation sources and this automatically ensured soil and water conservation.Ramser says that erosion generally makes One adopt terraces and defines terracing as the artificial practice adopted for remedying the resultant reduction in yield". Clerkdefines a terrace as the structure which aids in conserving fertility and Moisture; and states that  measures like terraces, crop rotation and soil treatments are complementary, and not competitive."The earliest conception of terracing was bench terracing which had been developed by gradual ploughing and throwing of soil downwards year after year. It was widely practised in the past in other countries and particularly so in India as well. Modern practices favour the adoption of bench terracing only on slopes steeper than 15 per cent and where soil conditions are favourable and lands available for cultivation are scarce.3Bench terracing depends upon the slope of the land, character of soil and farming practices proposed to be adopted. The maximum limit of slope beyond which bench terracing is not possible also depends upon various other conditions. For Nilgiris condions, the limiting slope has been fixed as -33 per cent above which terraces with convenient widths for easy cultural operations will not be easily feasible. In the Nilgiris, over 60 per cent of the lands under agriculturral crops fall within this group and require to be bench terraced for effective crosion control and moisture conservation.