IMPACT OF THE SLOPE AND THREE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS ON RUN OFF, EROSION AND CORN YIELD

Abstract

In 2001 a research work was carried out in Suchiapa, Chis., Mexico, in order to diagnose the level of fertility of hillside soils, in six strata formed by three slope ranges and two management systems, as well as to evaluate the impact of the slope and three production systems on soil runoff and erosion, and corn yield. The model EPIC (Erosion/Productivity Impact Calculator) was fed with information obtained from soils analyses, climate, soil management the corn crop data, to perform simulations for nine scenarios formed by three ranges of slope (<5, 5-15 and >5%) and three types of land use (corn planting, corn planting intercropped with contour hedgerows of prairie acacia and commercial planting of prairie acacia), to estimate their impact on runoff, erosion and corn yield. There were significant differences in the slope and land use factors in all soil characteristics evaluated, but in the interaction of both factors, only significant differences (P≤0.01) in the cation exchange capacity and the organic carbon were detected. In the evaluation of the effect of slope and production systems, significance (P≤0.01) was only detected in the land use factor, in the runoff and erosion variables.