CIGR Handbook of Agricultural Engineering, Volume I Land and Water Engineering, Chapter 4 Land Reclamation and Conservation, Part 4.4 Soil Conservation: Erosion Control

First paragraph: In most cases a combination of measures is needed to reduce the effects of the processes that cause erosion and to stimulate land use so that the soil is kept permanently productive. However, it must be emphasized that none of these methods has universal application. In selecting from possible measures, the following issues must be considered [1]: Any measure must be suitable for the intended land use and cropping systems. The objectives must be relate to rainfall and soil. In high-rainfall areas, a common goal is to lead unavoidable runoff safely off the land using drains and ditches. In semiarid regions the objective is that of slowing down the runoff to nonscouring velocities to encourage infiltration or deposition of silt. The inputs, especially of labor, must be affordable and the benefits must be sufficient to justify the inputs.