Which practice involves growing different crops in narrow bands across a field to reduce wind and water erosion?

Which practice involves growing different crops in narrow bands across a field to reduce wind and water erosion?

• A. Strip-Cultivation and Intercropping
• B. Cover Cropping
• C. Contour Ploughing
• D. Terracing

Answer: (A)

Growing crops in narrow bands across a field is strip cropping, a practice designed to slow and interrupt the forces of wind and water that cause erosion. By alternating strips of different crops (often with varying root depths and canopy heights), the movement of soil is broken up: the surface runoff is slowed, infiltration is increased, and wind speed near the soil is reduced. This creates a protective barrier that keeps more soil in place and preserves soil structure on sloped or bare ground. The option that matches this description most directly is the one that pairs strip cultivation with intercropping. It describes growing crops in strips across the field and often involves different crops in adjacent strips, which is exactly how strip cropping reduces erosion while maintaining crop production. Other options describe methods focused on land shaping or year-round soil cover rather than bands of crops across the field, so they don’t fit the description as precisely.

Growing crops in narrow bands across a field is strip cropping, a practice designed to slow and interrupt the forces of wind and water that cause erosion. By alternating strips of different crops (often with varying root depths and canopy heights), the movement of soil is broken up: the surface runoff is slowed, infiltration is increased, and wind speed near the soil is reduced. This creates a protective barrier that keeps more soil in place and preserves soil structure on sloped or bare ground.

The option that matches this description most directly is the one that pairs strip cultivation with intercropping. It describes growing crops in strips across the field and often involves different crops in adjacent strips, which is exactly how strip cropping reduces erosion while maintaining crop production.

Other options describe methods focused on land shaping or year-round soil cover rather than bands of crops across the field, so they don’t fit the description as precisely.