The Uruguayan soil conservation policy relies on soil use and management plans (SUMPs) filed for individual land properties. Farmers are required to file a SUMP developed by a certified agronomist showing estimated soil loss will not exceed officially defined tolerances. Over 96% of obligated land areas have filed SUMPs. Monitoring uses satellite imagery and field visits to check for compliance, with violations found in 10% of inspected SUMPs. The policy focuses responsibility on farms and aims to reduce soil loss through best practices like minimizing tillage and rotating crops and pastures.

1. The Uruguayan Official
Soil Conservation Policy
and its Results
Fernando García-Préchac
Director of Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture of
Uruguay
1

2. Intro: Uruguay Location and Climate
Temperate Climate:
• Annual Rainfall:
1100-1500mm,±200mm,
High variability
• Mean Temp:
24ºC Summer ± 2ºC,
12ºC Winter ± 1.5ºC

3. Intro: Uruguay Ecosystem and Soils
• Ecosystem: Grasslands (still 65% of the country)
• Topography: Rolling Plains and Low hills
• Soils: Mollisols+Vertisols (30%); and Alfisols, Ultisols, Inceptisols, Histosols, Entisols

4. Intro: Area, Population, Agricultural Products
• AREA: 176 215 km² (17.6 Mha) .
• Population:
• People: 3.400.000
• Cattle (Bovine): 12.000.000
• Sheeps: 6.500.000
• Cropped Area: 1.800.000 ha
• Forested Area: 1.000.000 ha
• Other “Traditional”
Export Products:

5. 5
Regulations
The Soil and Water Conservation Law was passed in 1968;
it was modified in 1981, and in 2009:
The Ministry of Agriculture is the Authority that
establishes the Soil Conservation Technical Norms and
Prosecutes their Fulfilment,
The Obligated are the Land Tenants, regardless the type
of arrangement giving them the use of the land. If the
tenant is not the land owner, the last is jointly liable in
case of violation.

6. 6
Sanctions
The Law establishes only sanctions (Fines) in
case of violations to the Ministry of
Agriculture Technical Norms.
The fines can vary between U$S 300 and U$S
300000, according with the gravity of the
violation and the land surface affected.

7. 7
Technical Norms
General Bad Practices are defined, like eliminating the vegetative
cover of waterways, orienting roughness by tillage or wheel tracks
in the direction of the main slopes, bare soil during winter, etc.
The main technical norm from 2013 is that each unit of soil
management (lot or parcel) should have filed a Soil Use and
Management Plan (SUMP) elaborated by a certified Agronomist,
showing that the USLE/RUSLE soil loss estimated for the rotation to
be made in this particular place, is not over the Tolerance officially
established for the used soil.
The filed SUMP constitutes a Sworn Declaration of the Soil Use
and Management to be made by the Land Tenant.

8. 8
Antecedents and Details in Lal et al. Eds.,
2018, Chapter 7

9. 9
SUMPs Elaboration
:
The Agronomist has the following information
on-line before visiting the Property Unit:
- Digital Terrain Models,
- R Factor Map (rigth)
- Oficial soil maps at property level (below)
- And a software with all the information to
run USLE/RUSLE in Uruguay (EROSION 6.0)

10. RESULTS: Land Property Units that filed
at least one SUMP
10
Presently, SUMPs
occupy 1.59
Mha,
representing
around 96% of
the obligated
area

11. 11
Fiscalization and Monitoring
Selected SUMPs are estudied.
Satellite images are used to a) identify crops in areas with no
SUMP filed, and 2) identify possible not declared changes in the
filed SUMP rotation.
Dubts are consulted with the Agronomist that elaborated the
SUMP and the Farmer (Land Tenant).
Visits to the Field.

12. LANDSAT 8 – August 2017
(Winter)
Areas with colored limits are
Filed SUMPs.
The Green Area indicates a
Fallow where the SUMP says
that should be a Cover Crop.
The Red Area with no colored
limit indicates a gowing Crop.
This area has not a Filed SUMP.
FALLOW
SUMP NOT FILED

13. 13
RESULTS at February 2019
16121 SUMPs were filed (1,59 Mha), and 4935 were
fiscalized including field visits (31%); the last represents 26%
of the obliged area.
Normative violations were detected in 1625 SUMPs (10% of
the total, and 33% of the fiscalized ones).
At least one SUMP elaborated by each one of the certified
Agronomists involved (485) was estudied. In 3 cases,
because of profesional errors, the certifications were
suspended.

14. 14
USLE/RUSLE erosion rates estimated for 2 contrasting Mollisols under
different cropping and soil management systems. Results show the
following order of alternatives effectiveness: 1)to reduce or eliminate
tillage, 2) to rotate crops and pastures, and 3) to rotate crops.
Cñ=Cañada Nieto soil; Yg=Young soil; NT=no till; RT=reduced tillage; S=soybean; W=wheat;
C=corn; CC=winter cover crop; P2= two years pasture; P3= three years pasture
C3 all
summers
C3 and C4
rotate in
summers
Crop-pasture
rotations

15. Highligths of the Uruguayan Soil Conservation Policy
• Very general law that determines the authority that defines the Soil Conservation
Technical Norms by Executive Resolution, and the ones responsible for applying
them.
• The policy punishes the normative violations, and do not uses monetary incentives.
• The work is focalized at the level where soil use and management decisions are
made: Farms and plots inside them.
• Relies on the best available Future Soil Erosion Rate estimation, as a consequence of
the soil use and management chosen, that do not surpass the oficially defined
tolerance for the used soil. There are no Technical Official recomendations.
• The technical responsible of a SUMP is the certified Agronomist signing it. The
responsible of executing a SUMP is the Land Tenant.
• SUMPs are sworn declarations made to the Authority that prosecutes their
fulfillment.
• Before starting the full fiscalization in 2013, there were almost 3 years of Extension
and Difusion of the policy to technicians and farmers. Short courses, case estudies
and voluntary participation in a pilot experience were part of the mentioned
activities. This process is considered the main explanation of the very good response
obtained in terms of percentage of obliged area that filed SUMPs in the whole
country.