The Hillslope Erosion Project aims to build awareness of hillslope erosion and to increase adoption of best practise mitigation techniques to minimise future soil erosion.
Fodder germination at the current trial site at Jetsonville, Tas.
Focus
The Hillslope Erosion Project will focus on areas in northern Tasmania with intensive cropping enterprises and high susceptibility to hillslope erosion such as Deloraine and Scottsdale. Trial sites will be established over the duration of the project period to investigate the cost-benefit ratio of different hillslope erosion mitigation techniques.
“Any cover is better than no cover at all. You need to think of these techniques as a form of insurance, because it’s worth your time and the cost involved to protect your most valuable asset.”
Dr Bill Cotching
Bamboo pegs measure the deposition or erosion of soil.
Heavy rainfall was simulated at the end-of-trial field day in Weetah.
Value
Tasmania's most productive vegetable growing areas have long suffered from significant hillslope erosion due to high rainfall, sloping paddocks, and crops that require bare seed beds.
Satellite images show red/brown flumes of soil being washed out to sea from intensive vegetable production areas following intense rainfall, resulting in the loss of some of Tasmania's most nutrient-rich soils.
Delivery
Soil erosion mitigation techniques will be communicated and promoted through:
Monitoring pegs are spaced throughout the site, to calculate an average per hectare.
Resources
This project is supported by NRM North, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
This project is supported by NRM North, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
Return to the Land Program.
Tackling high priority weeds that affect agriculture and the environment.
Raising awareness of the limitations in productivity caused by soil acidification in pastures.
Improving carbon flow into the soil in cropping systems and pasture.
Providing important core agricultural services within the NRM North region.
Supporting landholders to protect remnant vegetation and plant diverse native species