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Semicircular Bund
A semi-circular bund (also known as a ''demi-lune'' or half-moon) is a rainwater harvesting technique consisting in digging semilunar holes in the ground with the opening perpendicular to the flow of water. Background These holes are oriented against the slope of the ground, generating a small dike in the curved area with the soil from the hole itself, so they capture the rainwater running downhills. These structures allow water to seep into the soil, retaining in the subsoil a greater amount of moisture. But also, it prevents the loss of fertile soil. Semi-circular bunds are used to reforest arid zones with irregular rain patterns, allowing the growth of plants and trees, such as in the Sahel. See also * Zaï * Infiltration basin * Contour plowing * Great Green Wall * Rainwater harvesting in the Sahel Rainwater harvesting in the Sahel is a combination of "indigenous and innovative" agricultural strategies that "plant the rain" and reduce evaporation, so that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demi-lune (half-moone) Agriculture
Demilune, demi-lune, or ''similar'', may refer to: * Semicircle shape ** A half-moon, the first quarter or last quarter lunar phase * Semicircular bund, a rainwater harvesting technique in arid areas * Ravelin, a type of fortification also called demi-lune * Serous demilune (Demilunes of Heidenhain), the crescent shaped formations on salivary glands * La Demi Lune, a card game also known as Crescent (solitaire) * Demilune (Op.74), a composition by Alan Hovhaness; see List of compositions by Alan Hovhaness * La Demi-Lune, Lannemezan, Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie, France; a neighbourhood * Demi-Lune, La Demi-Lune, Lannemezan, Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie, France; a park See also * Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, Lyons, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France * Half Moon (other) * Crescent (other) * Demi (other) * Lune (other) Lune may refer to: Rivers *River Lune, in Lancashire and Cumbria, England *River Lune, Durham, in County Durham, England *Lune (Weser) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contour Plowing
Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines. These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gullies during times of heavy precipitation, allowing more time for the water to settle into the soil. In contour plowing, the ruts made by the plow run perpendicular rather than parallel to the slopes, generally furrows that curve around the land and are level. This method is also known for preventing tillage erosion. Tillage erosion is the soil movement and erosion by tilling a given plot of land. A similar practice is contour bunding where stones are placed around the contours of slopes. Contour ploughing helps to reduce soil erosion. Soil erosion prevention practices such as this can drastically decrease negative effects associated with soil erosion such as reduced crop productivity, worsened water quality, lower effective reservoir w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Greening
Desert greening is the process of man-made reclamation of deserts for ecological reasons (biodiversity), farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life. The term "desert greening" is intended to apply to both cold and hot arid and semi-arid deserts (see Köppen climate classification system). It does not apply to ice capped or permafrost regions. Desert greening has the potential to help solve global water, energy, and food crises. It pertains to roughly 32 million square kilometres of land. Methods *Managed intensive rotational grazing *Holistic management * Landscaping methods to reduce evaporation, erosion, consolidation of topsoil, sandstorms, temperature and more *Permaculture in general – harvesting runoff rainwater to grow plant communities polyculture, composting or multitrophic agriculture *Planting trees (pioneer species) and salt-loving plants (halophytes), such as Salicornia *Regeneration of sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around the world. Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall. In addition to these uses, irrigation is also employed to protect crops from frost, suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation. It is also used to cool livestock, reduce dust, dispose of sewage, and support mining operations. Drainage, which involves the removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given location, is often studied in conjunction with irrigation. There are several methods of irrigation that differ in how water is supplied to plants. Surface irrigation, also known as gravity irrigation, is the oldest form of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flood Control Projects
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrology and are of significant concern in agriculture, civil engineering and public health. Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding, for example land use changes such as deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course or flood controls such as with levees, and larger environmental issues such as climate change and sea level rise. In particular climate change's increased rainfall and extreme weather events increases the severity of other causes for flooding, resulting in more intense floods and increased flood risk. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river, lake, or ocean, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Conservation
Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Population, household size and growth and affluence all affect how much water is used. Factors such as climate change have increased pressures on natural water resources especially in manufacturing and agricultural irrigation. Many countries have already implemented policies aimed at water conservation, with much success. The key activities to conserve water are as follows: any beneficial reduction in water loss, use and waste of resources, avoiding any damage to water quality; and improving water management practices that reduce the use or enhance the beneficial use of water. Technology solutions exist for households, commercial and agricultural applications. Water conservation programs involved in social solutions are typically initiated at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water. Dew and fog can also be collected with nets or other tools. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as the runoff is typically collected from roofs and other surfaces for storage and subsequent reuse. Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be committed to longer-term storage or groundwater recharge. Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest methods of self-supply of water for households, having been used in South Asia and other countries for many thousands of years. Installations can be designed for different scales including household ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainwater Harvesting In The Sahel
Rainwater harvesting in the Sahel is a combination of "indigenous and innovative" agricultural strategies that "plant the rain" and reduce evaporation, so that crops have access to soil moisture for the longest possible period of time. In the resource-poor drylands of the Sahel region of Africa, irrigation systems and chemical fertilizers are often prohibitively expensive and thus uncommon: so increasing or maintaining crop yields in the face of climate change depends on augmenting the region's extant rainfed agriculture systems to "increase water storage within the soil and replenish soil nutrients." Rainwater harvesting is a form of agricultural water management. Rainwater harvesting is most effective when combined with systems for soil regeneration and organic-matter management. Background The Sahel is an ecologically (rather than geopolitically) defined region of Africa. The noun ''Sahel'' comes from the Arabic ''sāḥil'' ( ar, ساحل) describing a border, shore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Green Wall (Africa)
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel (french: Grande Muraille Verte pour le Sahara et le Sahel; ) is a project led by the African Union, initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara, by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel. The modern green wall has since evolved into a program promoting water harvesting techniques, greenery protection and improving indigenous land use techniques, aimed at creating a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa. The project is a response to the combined effect of natural resources degradation and drought in rural areas. It seeks to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as improve food security. The population of the Sahel is expected to double by 2039, emphasizing the importance of maintaining food production and environmental protection in the area. History In the 1950s the Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infiltration Basin
An infiltration basin (or recharge basin) is a form of engineered sump or percolation pond that is used to manage stormwater runoff, prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay. It is essentially a shallow artificial pond that is designed to infiltrate stormwater through permeable soils into the groundwater aquifer. Infiltration basins do not release water except by infiltration, evaporation or emergency overflow during flood conditions. It is distinguished from a detention basin, sometimes called a dry pond, which is designed to discharge to a downstream water body (although it may incidentally infiltrate some of its volume to groundwater); and from a retention basin, which is designed to include a permanent pool of water. Design considerations Infiltration basins must be carefully designed to infiltrate the soil on a given site at a rate that will not cause flooding. They may be less effective in areas with: * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water. Dew and fog can also be collected with nets or other tools. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as the runoff is typically collected from roofs and other surfaces for storage and subsequent reuse. Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be committed to longer-term storage or groundwater recharge. Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest and oldest methods of self-supply of water for households, having been used in South Asia and other countries for many thousands of years. Installations can be designed for different scales including household ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zaï
Zaï or Tassa is a farming technique to dig pits (20-30 cm long and deep and 90 cm apart) in the soil during the preseason to catch water and concentrate compost. The technique is traditionally used in western Sahel (Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali) to restore degraded drylands and increase soil fertility. Zaï holes were reintroduced since the 1980s by Yacouba Sawadogo, a farmer from Burkina Faso, who introduced the innovation of filling them with manure and compost to provide plant nutrients. The manure attracts termites, whose tunnels help further break up the soil. He also slightly increased the size of the holes over the traditional models. Zaï holes help by improving the yields of trees, sorghum, and millet by up to 500 percent. As an alternative to the zaï-technique some agricultural engineers suggest a diking technique, especially in the case of very light soils. See also * Farmer-managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) *Regenerative Agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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