The Impact of Soil-Improving Cropping Practices on Erosion Rates: A Stakeholder-Oriented Field Experiment Assessment

Ioannis K. Tsanis, Konstantinos D. Seiradakis, Sofia Sarchani, Ioanna S. Panagea, Dimitrios D. Alexakis and Aristeidis G. Koutroulis
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Ioannis K. Tsanis: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Akrotiri, 73100 Chania, Greece
Konstantinos D. Seiradakis: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Akrotiri, 73100 Chania, Greece
Sofia Sarchani: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Akrotiri, 73100 Chania, Greece
Ioanna S. Panagea: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 E, Box 2411, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Dimitrios D. Alexakis: Lab of Geophysical—Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeo-Environment, Institute for Mediterranean Studies, Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas, 74100 Rethymno, Greece
Aristeidis G. Koutroulis: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Akrotiri, 73100 Chania, Greece

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The risk of erosion is particularly high in Mediterranean areas, especially in areas that are subject to a not so effective agricultural management–or with some omissions–, land abandonment or wildfires. Soils on Crete are under imminent threat of desertification, characterized by loss of vegetation, water erosion, and subsequently, loss of soil. Several large-scale studies have estimated average soil erosion on the island between 6 and 8 Mg/ha/year, but more localized investigations assess soil losses one order of magnitude higher. An experiment initiated in 2017, under the framework of the SoilCare H2020 EU project, aimed to evaluate the effect of different management practices on the soil erosion. The experiment was set up in control versus treatment experimental design including different sets of treatments, targeting the most important cultivations on Crete (olive orchards, vineyards, fruit orchards). The minimum-to-no tillage practice was adopted as an erosion mitigation practice for the olive orchard study site, while for the vineyard site, the cover crop practice was used. For the fruit orchard field, the crop-type change procedure (orange to avocado) was used. The experiment demonstrated that soil-improving cropping techniques have an important impact on soil erosion, and as a result, on soil water conservation that is of primary importance, especially for the Mediterranean dry regions. The demonstration of the findings is of practical use to most stakeholders, especially those that live and work with the local land.

Keywords: soil erosion; soil-improving crop systems; sustainable land management; sustainable agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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