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Maintaining sustainable crop production on undulating, sloppy, and erodible soils in Shivalik foothills of North-west India is a challenging task. Intercropping is accepted as a highly sustainable system to reduce soil erosion and ensure sustainable production by making efficient use of resources. Field experiments were conducted in the rainy season (July to September) during 2015, 2016, and 2017 to evaluate the effect of land slopes and maize and cowpea strip-intercropping on productivity and resource conservation at the Regional Research Station, Ballowal Saunkhri located in the Shivalik foothills. During three years of experimentation, a total of 23–26 runoff events were observed in the maize crop grown in the rainy season. The results from this 3-year field study indicate that maize grain yield was significantly higher on a 1% slope and cowpea on a 2% slope. This accounted for significantly higher net returns (US$ 428 ha−1) with a benefit-cost (BC) ratio of 2.0 on a 1% slope. Runoff, soil, and nutrient losses were higher on a 3% slope as compared to 1% and 2% slopes. N, P, and K loss on a 3% slope were 3.80, 1.82, and 4.10 kg ha−1 higher, respectively than a 1% slope. The adoption of a strip-intercropping system with a 4.8 m maize strip width and 1.2 m cowpea strip width resulted in significantly higher maize equivalent yield than sole maize and other strip-intercropping systems. This system showed the highest land equivalent ratio value (1.24) indicating a 24% yield advantage over sole cropping systems of maize and cowpea, and fetched the highest net returns (US$ 530 ha−1) with a benefit-cost ratio (BC ratio) of 2.09. This system also reduced runoff and soil loss by 10.9% and 8.3%, respectively than sole maize crop. On all the land slopes, maize and cowpea strip-intercropping systems showed a significant reduction in N, P, K, and organic carbon loss as compared to sole maize. Thus, on sloping land, the maize and cowpea strip-intercropping system decreases surface runoff, soil, and nutrient loss, and increases yield and income of the farmers as compared to a sole maize crop.
Anil Khokhar; Abrar Yousuf; Manmohanjit Singh; Vivek Sharma; Parminder Sandhu; Gajjala Chary. Impact of Land Configuration and Strip-Intercropping on Runoff, Soil Loss and Crop Yields under Rainfed Conditions in the Shivalik Foothills of North-West, India. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6282 .
AMA StyleAnil Khokhar, Abrar Yousuf, Manmohanjit Singh, Vivek Sharma, Parminder Sandhu, Gajjala Chary. Impact of Land Configuration and Strip-Intercropping on Runoff, Soil Loss and Crop Yields under Rainfed Conditions in the Shivalik Foothills of North-West, India. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):6282.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnil Khokhar; Abrar Yousuf; Manmohanjit Singh; Vivek Sharma; Parminder Sandhu; Gajjala Chary. 2021. "Impact of Land Configuration and Strip-Intercropping on Runoff, Soil Loss and Crop Yields under Rainfed Conditions in the Shivalik Foothills of North-West, India." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 6282.
The Shivalik foothills of northwestern India are very prone to soil erosion by water due to undulating slopes, highly erodible soils and high intensity rainstorm events during monsoon season. Physically based soil erosion modeling is seen as viable method for planning of measurements to reduce damages done by soil erosion. Nevertheless, parametrization of such models is a major challenge for large inaccessible areas. Several methods do exist for the estimation of the input parameters skin factor, surface roughness and resistance to erosion for the physically based soil erosion model EROSION-3D. Four rainfall experiments, each including dry and wet run, were conducted on different land use conditions on a research farm of the Regional Research Station Ballowal Saunkhri to test estimation methods. Modeling parameters were determined from these experiments. Parameter estimation by two methods for experimental conditions produced values in close range to experimentally determined values for resistance to erosion and surface roughness. Therefore, existing estimation methods are considered to be applicable for the conditions of the Shivalik mountains, except for skin factor. A first modeling with EROSION-3D using preliminary data of a small example catchment shows uncertainties resulting from range of determined and estimated soil parameters.
Jonas Lenz; Abrar Yousuf; Marcus Schindewolf; Michael Von Werner; Kerstin Hartsch; Manmohan J. Singh; Jürgen Schmidt. Parameterization for EROSION-3D Model under Simulated Rainfall Conditions in Lower Shivaliks of India. Geosciences 2018, 8, 396 .
AMA StyleJonas Lenz, Abrar Yousuf, Marcus Schindewolf, Michael Von Werner, Kerstin Hartsch, Manmohan J. Singh, Jürgen Schmidt. Parameterization for EROSION-3D Model under Simulated Rainfall Conditions in Lower Shivaliks of India. Geosciences. 2018; 8 (11):396.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJonas Lenz; Abrar Yousuf; Marcus Schindewolf; Michael Von Werner; Kerstin Hartsch; Manmohan J. Singh; Jürgen Schmidt. 2018. "Parameterization for EROSION-3D Model under Simulated Rainfall Conditions in Lower Shivaliks of India." Geosciences 8, no. 11: 396.
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Abrar Yousuf; M. J. Singh. Runoff and soil loss estimation using hydrological models, remote sensing and GIS in Shivalik foothills: a review. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 2016, 15, 205 .
AMA StyleAbrar Yousuf, M. J. Singh. Runoff and soil loss estimation using hydrological models, remote sensing and GIS in Shivalik foothills: a review. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 2016; 15 (3):205.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAbrar Yousuf; M. J. Singh. 2016. "Runoff and soil loss estimation using hydrological models, remote sensing and GIS in Shivalik foothills: a review." Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 15, no. 3: 205.