Soil and water conservation practices of Farming in Himachal :

Himachal Pradesh is an agrarian State with 76% population securing their livelihood from agriculture base and contributes about 9.4% to the total GDP of the State. The entire population of the state more or less depends directly upon the agriculture of Himachal Pradesh. The major portion of the revenue earning in the state's economy is carried out by the cash crops in the Himachal Pradesh agriculture. The terrain of Himachal is rough and hilly so the farmers over the years has evolved some farming practices. Some of them are :

Contour bunds :

In sloppy lands with more than 5% slopes, trenches and bunds are created along the contour lines. Depending on the situation the distance between the bunds may vary from 30 to 50 meters. Rainwater collects along the bunds and percolates slowly. Surface runoff and soil erosion comes down. Plants planted on these bunds show tremendous growth due to high moisture content in the trenches. In the same way sowing is practiced in beds or rows along the contour lines. Sorghum and erosion resistant crops like groundnut are grown in strips. The same principle is followed in forest plantations on the slopes of the hills. Trenches are dug along the contour line and seedlings are planted on the bunds. Growth of the plants will be excellent due to high moisture content in the soil.

Bench terrace :

On hill slopes like chamba and Lahaul Spiti with more than 20% slope bench terracing is common. It is inevitable for successful farming even though the cost of construction is very high. We find paddy fields in such terraced lands in hilly regions. This structure helps for standing of water and to conserve soil and manure applied. In forest and horticultural plantations shallow half-moon and V shaped pits are dug for each plant. This pit collects and percolates rainwater even from unseasonal rain. Manures and fertilizers can also be given in the same pit since it maintains more moisture. In plain lands shallow pits are dug near each plant before the onset of monsoon. These pits percolate enough water enhancing plant growth.

Compartmental bunding :

Large farms with less slope are divided in to compartments by putting bunds against slope. Even though more water gets collected at the bund it helps for spreading of moisture for the entire compartment. Normally the pits dug for putting bunds are retained. Rainwater collected in these trenches percolates slowly improving soil moisture. Planting red gram, caster etc. on these bunds will help for the stabilization of the bund apart from an additional income. In heavy rainfall areas grasses with strong root system like Vetiver is put for the stabilization of bunds. This avoids breaking and washing away of bunds. Stone bunds are also common. THis type of farming is prevelent in plain areas of state like Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una.

Ridges and furrows :

Ridges and furrows are made against the slope by ploughing on large farms before the onset of monsoon. In Kharif maize, sorghum, pearl millet etc. are sown in the furrows. Ridges will have soya bean, black gram, green gram, cowpea etc. Water percolated in the furrow is useful even for Rabi crops. In another method broad beds are prepared by opening furrows at 4 to 5 meter interval. Crops with high water requirement may be planted in the furrow. Crops requiring low water like di-cot grams and oilseeds are sown in the beds.

Check dams :

Excess water during heavy rains flows out of the farm even after implementing various rainwater harvesting methods. Also the streams flow from hills and forest area next to the farm. Small dams or barriers are built to store this water for usage on the farm. This construction may be systematic with stones and cement or RCC. Otherwise we may use locally available stones, wood, wire mesh etc. to cut-down the cost. Water collected in this check dam percolates slowly recharging ground water. Provide drains to avoid overflow. Otherwise the check dam may break and washed away during heavy rains. Grow grass or put stone slabs in the water channels bringing water to this dam. In heavy rainfall areas vented dams are popular. Take out all blockages in the rainy season to facilitate free flow of water. Put wooden or metal barriers in summer to store water. In the western ghat regions temporary blockages are created for small streams by October-November months. Stored water is used for agriculture till its availability.

Farm Pond :

During heavy rainfall excess water from the farm flows out. Farm pond is dug at lowermost portion of the farm to collect runoff water. This is useful as drinking water for cattle, irrigation water for nursery and newly planted seedlings. This remains for 3 to 4 months and useful even for life saving irrigation for crops. Collected water percolates down recharging ground water. Few farmers put plastic sheet or cement concrete to the bottom of the pond to retain the storage for long time. Grow grass or put stones to the water channel leading to the farm pond to minimize soil erosion. Apart from that dig a catch pit just before the pond. Silt, sand, manure etc. settle down in this catch pit and clean water enters the farm pond. Clean this catch pit once in a year before the onset of monsoon. This pit minimizes silting of farm pond.

Gully plugging:

Gullies formed on the farm due to surface runoff are plugged with some obstacles. Silt with the runoff water gets collected and fills the gulley. This method is good for bigger gullies too.

 The agricultural sector and the allied sector generates a revenue of nearly 22.5 percent of the gross State Domestic Product. The farming community of the state holds an area of 9.99 lakh hectares which is run by 8.63 lakh farmers out of the total geographical area of 55.673 lakh hectares. Around 84.5 percent of the total land held by the farming community of Himachal Pradesh are owned by the small and marginal farmers. Only 10.4 percent of the area of the state is cultivated and about 80 percent of the area experiences rainfall. Some very important factors that has led to the outstanding development in the agriculture of Himachal Pradesh are an efficient irrigation system, accessibility of low-cost cargo, and marketing facilities structured in an organized form.