Reduction in soil organic matter loss caused by water erosion in inter-rows of hop gardens

Abstract

Currently, when cultivating Humulus lupulus, there is no systematic farming reducing soil erosion in the Czech Republic. As a result, annual irreversible soil and organic matter losses due to intensive rains occur on soils of hop gardens threatened by erosion. One of the possibilities how to reduce water erosion in hop gardens and thereby to decrease the amount of washed away organic matter is using the conservation effect of suitably selected catch crops in inter-rows. Two catch crops were selected to test: Phacelia tanacetifolia and a grass-legume mixture. Organic matter in soil is a key factor to maintain the stable soil environment and our results show that the amount of washed away organic matter was reduced by more than half compared to conventional farming (60% – naturally moist soil, 54.5% – soil already saturated). The research was conducted between the years 2016 and 2017 close to the village of Solopysky. Soil loss was investigated using a rainfall simulator from which the organic matter washing away was consequently determined. The rainfall simulator is a device enabling to measure not only the soil loss due to water erosion but also the volume of surface runoff, infiltration etc. From the outcomes of measurements carried out with rainfall simulator it is apparent that these technologies have a significant soil conservation potential in hop gardens.