Soil and Water Conservation Practices: Crop Yields Boost Up by Adopting Water Conservation and Fertility Management Practices in Eroded and Dryland Areas

Crop yields in the Pothwar plateau, Punjab Province Pakistan mostly depend upon the availability of rain water and fertilizer applied nutrients. Erratic rainfall, run-off losses, erosion, imbalance and low rate of nutrient application results very very low yield than the potential yield. Instead of conventional practices of farming, higher yields of wheat and maize can be obtained by integrated approach of soil water conservation and fertility management practices. After characterization of eroded lands of Pothwar plateau, water conservation and fertility management practices were adopted according to severity of erosion and fertility status of that lands. Profitability analysis of rain water conservation and soil fertility management for wheat-maize cropping system gave higher net income than conventional farmer's practices. While in dry land, higher sorghum yields and water use efficiency was obtained with integrated nutrient management and mulch application. This study will help students, teachers and professions who are involved with research in soil and water conservation. Crisis of water demands its efficient utilization and conservation to feed billions of population.