Abstract

Since a plant cover, either natural or grown, is the main single controllable factor in erosion, an exact understanding of its effects is very valuable. Attempts to ascertain the rate of erosion of soil protected by both tops and roots of cultivated plants as compared with similar soil free from vegetation, are meagre. An immediate application of this knowledge is found in crop-growing. In the black-cotton soil tract of the Deccan where erosion of soil has become a serious proposition, it is important to know the erosion resistance efficiency of the several crops and crop- mixtures, growing in this zone. In this tract only mungari crops experience rains during their growing period. After the sowing of hingari crops usually no further rains are received. These studies were made during the two seasons 1938-39 and 1939-40. As these pertain only to erosion, only crops which receive rain during their growth are included. Such of those hingari crops as figure in mungari mixtures only have been included in these experiments. In Sec- tion I a general survey of the relative efficiency of crops and crop-mixtures in protecting the soil from erosion is detailed. Section II deals with their relative efficiency at different stages of growth.

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