Has farming gone downhill? In the early 1960’s, having trained with the agricultural technical services in South Africa, it would be illegal to plow downhill. Before a farmer was given permission to plow the land it was up to us, extension officers, to go and survey the land. All plowing was to be done horizontally with approximately 1m grass strips following the contour to reduce the downward flow of rainwater. If the gradient exceeded a certain fall/angle, plowing was prohibited.
Regrettably this is not the case for some of the locals. In this example, shortly after having been plowed and planted down the slope, 42mm of rain fell causing extensive gulley and sheet erosion. To rectify the problem the land has been re-plowed, causing more soil disturbance, greater exposure to evaporation and soil compaction. Since then, we have also had strong winds blowing across the land taking large clouds of topsoil with it.
The tragedy is, that this is going to be an onging dysfunctional land operation. The only way to rectify this disaster is if the land owner would remove all the currently planted trees along with the irrigation system and plow on the horizontal incorporating broad based terraces. I would even go as far as to say, they should additionally plant some ground cover on the those terraces. If desired, the trees should then be planted by following the contours.
Unfortunately, the agricultural and irrigation authorities have condoned this operation and should be held accountable for creating and allowing such a huge dysfunctional farming area. As a qualified agriculturalist I am available to share my knowledge if anyone would like to discuss this further. PLEASE dont make the same mistake!