Methods used to reduce soil erosion, prevent depletion of soil nutrients, and restore nutrients already lost by erosion, leaching, and excessive crop harvesting.
protection of soil against erosion or deterioration
measures which protect soil from excessive erosion, structural breakdown, nutrient loss or pollution; thereby minimising decline in its capacity to support plant and animal life.
means the management of land to maintain the region's soil and water resources to provide the widest range of sustainable benefits for the needs and aspirations of present and future generations, and includes:(a) the maintenance of the productive potential of the nation's soil resources to retain sustainable land use options for present and future generations;(b) the maintenance of catchments to provide high quality water resources for downstream users;(c) land management practices that further enhance the protection of waterways from suspended sediments, nutrients, harmful micro-organisms and other pollutants;(d) the mitigation of the impacts of land related hazards including flooding, subsidence and erosion; and(e) the maintenance of aesthetic, scientific and cultural values related to land and water.
The preservation of soil against deterioration and loss by using the land within its capabilities and applying those conservation practices that are necessary for its protection and improvement. More especially it consists in the use of land within the limits of economic practicability and in safeguarding it against impoverishment or depletion by erosion deposition, exhaustion of plant nutrients (Through leaching, excessive cropping or overgrazing), accumulation of toxic salts, burning, waterlogging, improper cultivation or any type of improper use or failure to protect the land from soil loss or impairment of productiveness. ( USDA).
careful preservation or protection of soil