The document discusses various practices for soil moisture conservation in dryland farming areas. It describes 17 techniques including conservation tillage, mulching, crop rotation, green manuring, deep tillage, compartmental bunding, retention ditches, contour farming, stone lines, planting pits, and semi-circular bunds. These techniques aim to increase water infiltration and retention in soil by reducing runoff, impounding surface water, and modifying land configurations to harvest rainfall where it falls. Properly conserving soil moisture through these methods can help ensure sustainable agricultural production in dry regions with limited water availability.

1. PRACTICES APPLIED
FOR SOIL MOISTURE
CONSERVATION IN
BARANI AREAS
Muhammad Faheem
16-ARID-3102

2. INTRODUCTION
•Soil and water are two important
naturalresources and the basic
needs for agricultural production
•Agricultural production to feed
the increasing production is only
possible if there issufficient
fertile land and water available
for farming

3. INTRODUCTION
The total geographical area of Pakistan
is 79.61 million hectares of which only 25
%or 19.82 million hectares are currently
under cultivation
That’s why soil and water should be
given first priority from the conservation
point of view and appropriate methods
should be used to ensure their
sustainability and future use

4. • Earlier efforts for moisture
conservation were concentrated
upon construction of various types
of bunds across the land slope to
control erosion and conserve soil.
• All the water erosion control measures
however, led toaccumulation of water
against the structures rather than its
proper and uniform distribution in the
interterraced area and at times led to
reduction in crop yields.

5. 1. Conservation Tillage
• Conservation tillage reducing or, in
extreme cases,completely eliminating
the tillage tomaintain healthy soil
organic levels which increases the soils
capacity to absorb and retain water.
• Conservation tillage is a specific type of
such approach where crop residue is left
on the soil to reduce evapo-
transpiration, and protect soil surface
from wind, sun and heavy rain impacts

7. 2. Mulching
• Mulch is a layer of organic or
inorganic material that is placed on
the root zone of the plants.
• Examples of mulch materials include
straw, wood chips, peat.
• Inorganic mulch in form of plastic
sheeting is also used.
• Mulching is most suited for low to
medium rainfall areas, and less suited
for areaswith very wet conditions.

9. 3. Crop Rotation
• Crop rotation is growing different types of
crops every season helps improve soil
structure and thus water holding capacity.
• Examples include rotating deep-rooted and
shallow rooted crops that make use of
previously unused soil moisture, as plants
draw water from different depth levels within
the soil.
• Crop rotation may also improve soil fertility
andhelp control pests and diseases.

11. 4. Green manuring:
• Green manuring is growing of
plant materials with the sole
purpose of adding to the soil for
improved organic matter and
nutrients.
• The improved soil quality then also
improves water retention capacity

13. 5. Deep Tillage
It is suited for some areas and
soils.
Deep tillage can help increase
porosity and permeability of the
soil to increase its water
absorption capacity

15. 6. Compartmental bunding:
• It means the entire field is
divided into small
compartments with pre-
determined size to retain the
rainwater where it falls and
arrest soil erosion.
• The compartmental bunds are
formed using bund former.

16. CONT…
• The size of the bunds depends
upon the slope of the land
compartmental bunds provide
more opportunity time for
water to infiltrate into the soil
and help in conserving soil
moisture.

18. Advantages of compartmental
bunding
• Conserves moisture Suitable for
lesser rainfall areas Reduces the
formation of cracks
• It can be formed while ploughing
itself or before early sowing.

19. 7. RETENTION DITCHES
Retention ditches are large ditches, designed
to catch and retain all incoming runoff and
hold it until it infiltrated into the ground.
They are sometimes also called infiltration
ditches.
In semi-arid areas retention ditches are
commonly used for trapping rainwater and
for growing crops that have high water
requirements, such as bananas.
These crops can be planted in the ditch and
thereby get increased supply of moisture.

20. 8. CONTOUR FARMING
Contour farming means that field activities such as
ploughing, furrowing and planting are carried out
along contours, and not up and down the slope.
The purpose is to prevent surface runoff downslope
and encourage infiltration of water into the soil.
Structures and plants are established along the
contour lines following the configuration on the
ground.
Contour farming may involve construction of soil
traps, bench terraces or bunds, or the establishment
of hedgerows.

21. 9. STONE LINES
Stone lines along the contour is a popular
technology in dry stony areas.
Since the lines are permeable they do not
pond runoff water, but slow down the
speed, filter it, and spread the water over
the field, thus enhancing water infiltration
and reducing soil erosion.
The lines are constructed by making a
shallow foundation trench along the
contour.

22. 10. PLANTING PITS
 Planting pits are the simplest form of water harvesting.
 They have proved especially successful for growing
sorghum and millet in areas with minimal rainfall amounts.
 Small holes are dug at a spacing of about 1 m.
 During rainstorms the planting pits catch runoff and
concentrate it around the growing plant.
 Crops are planted in the pits and thereby benefit from the
increased moisture availability in the pits.
 Planting pits have proven successful in areas with annual
rainfall of 200-750 mm.
 They are particularly useful for rehabilitate barren, crusted
soils and clay slopes, where infiltration is limited and tillage
is difficult.

23. 11. SEMI-CIRCULAR BUNDS
Semi-circular bunds are earth bunds in the shape
of a semi-circle with the tip of the bunds on the
contour.
The size of the bunds varies, from small structures
with a radius of 2 m to very large structures with
a radius of 30 m.
They are often used to harvest water for fruit
trees and are especially useful for seedlings.
Semi-circular bunds are suitable on gentle slopes
(normally below 2%) in areas with annual rainfall
of 200-750 mm.

24. Other soil moisture conservation
techniques
12. Mixed cropping
13. Inter-planting
14. Contour plantation
15. Strip cropping.
16. Rainwater harvesting to
minimize runoff and collect water
for use on site.
17. Spreading manure or compost
over the soil

25. • The principle behind the
recommendation of different
practices is to increase the
infiltration by reducing the rate
of runoff, temporarily
• Impounding the water on the
surface of the soil to increase
the opportunity time for
infiltration and modifying the
land configuration for inter plot
water harvesting.

26. References:
Agriiinfo, 2015: Soil And Water Conservation Methods -
Management Practices
FAO, 2003: Conservation Agriculture for Soil Moisture, Briefing
Notes - Production Systems Management
Hudson, N.W., 1987: Soil and Water Conservation in Semi-Arid
Areas, Issue 57, Volume 57 of Fao Soils Bulletin, Soil and water
conservation in semi-arid areas, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, 1987
Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSCA), 2011: Soil
Moisture Conservation Factsheet
https://www.share4dev.info/kb/documents/1950.pdf

27. Thanks