Terrace farming
Also called: Terrace cultivation, Terracing, Step farming · Topic: Soils of India: Types, Degradation and Conservation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 3 "Landforms and Life"; Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"; Class 9, Ch 2 "Shaping of the Earth's Surface"; Class 10, Ch 1 "Resources and Development"; Class 11, Ch 6 "Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences and Management"
Meaning
Terrace farming means cutting a hill slope into a series of flat, step-like fields called terraces. On flat steps, rainwater moves slowly and soaks in instead of rushing down the slope. This checks soil erosion and lets farmers grow crops on land that would otherwise be too steep. Terraces also make slopes more stable, so they reduce landslides.
Example
Terrace farming is well developed in the western and central Himalayas, for example in Uttarakhand. NCERT also recommends it in place of jhum in the northeastern hill states to reduce landslides.
Don't confuse with
- Jhum (shifting cultivation): in jhum, farmers clear and burn a patch of forest on a slope, farm it for a few years and then move on, which leaves slopes bare and easy to erode. Terraces are permanent fields that protect the slope.
- Contour ploughing: this ploughs along the natural slope without levelling it. Terracing reshapes the slope into flat steps.
Related concepts
- Soil conservation
- Contour ploughing
- Strip cropping
- Shelter belt
- Contour bunding
- Continuous contour trench