Type of Practices

Soil Conservation Practices

Soil Conservation Functions

Characteristics

Mechanical practices

Dams, stone walls, contour ditches, subsoiling, terraces, contour bunding

Reduce the velocity of concentrated runoff, enhance the deposition of sediments into ponds and behind check dams [4] [3] . Contour ditches have a negative impact on soil quality [6] [21] .

Mechanical works require large economic investments, machinery and engineering knowledge. The implementation of this practice tends to be hierarchical placing bureaucrats “in the design chair at the top of the pyramid, and the farmers, who are supposed to adopt these designs at the base” [22] .

Extension agents are responsible for technology transfer to communities that do have poor capacities to replicate these practices

High cost and low short -term benefits [22] .

Vegetative practices

Use of dead plant material as soil cover, living barriers, agroforestry systems, promotion of secondary vegetation (“acahual”), green manure, windbreaks, living fences

Reduce runoff rate, reduce overland flow velocity, act as living filters, retain sediments, increase soil organic matter and improve soil fertility and quality [4] [5] [23] .

Use of available, local material through practices familiar to farmers [24] .

Farmers participate in technology design, adapting it to local context; Medium cost with regard to benefits obtained [22]