Arresting Soil Erosion in Hilly Terrains with Pigeonpea - The Chinese Experience

Conservation of the nutrient-rich top soil is extremely important for sustaining agricultural productivity. It is now becoming a serious crop production constraint, particularly in the slopping hilly terrains. The ecology of such areas is rapidly deteriorating and their recovery seems extremely difficult. In southern China, where soil erosion is a serious issue, various plant species were unsuccessfully tried in the past to arrest the soil erosion. The Chinese scientists, in collaboration with ICRISAT, used late maturing pigeonpea cultivars to protect the fragile lands in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. The planted area under pigeonpea in this system rapidly increased to 700 ha by 2001. This paper summarizes the methodologies used in soil conservation practices involving pigeonpea.