Identify and discuss at least three practices used by farmers to protect their soils
What will be an ideal response?
There are numerous practices used by farmers to protect their soils. Crop rotation can return nutrients to the soil and can be used as an alternative to letting fields lie fallow, which exposes soils to erosion. Contour farming protects soils against erosion by shaping agricultural fields to minimize the possibility of water running down a hillside. Intercropping is the planting of two types of vegetation in the same field, either overlapping the crops or planting them in alternating rows. It provides a more complete land cover by decreasing bare areas between rows. Shelterbelts are windbreaks of trees or shrubs planted to provide windbreaks that slow ground wind speed across a field. No-till, or conservation, tillage decreases the plowing of soil and provides less exposure of soils to wind and water for erosion. In areas prone to soil salinization, such strategies as drip irrigation can help deliver water directly to plant roots while preventing the evaporation of irrigation water. The final way to protect soils is by composting, returning vegetable wastes to cropland so that their fiber and minerals can promote humus development.
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a. right; right b. right; left c. left; right d. left; left
The cold conveyor belt
A) produces the dry slot. B) flows ahead of the warm front. C) does not produce clouds. D) often brings dry air from the stratosphere down near the surface. E) all of the above
Drainage basins are ________ systems
A) open B) closed C) open in terms of energy, closed in terms of matter D) closed in terms of energy, open in terms of matter
The origins of glacial landforms are difficult to ascertain because glaciers produce landforms that are similar to landforms made by fluvial processes
Indicate whether the statement is true or false