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Gully stabilisation in
cropping and grazing lands |
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Due to its deep root and thick growth VS
has been used very effectively to stabilise gully heads and rehabilitate
gully floors in both cropping and grazing lands in Queensland. |
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Application of VS to supplement
and/or replace contour banks |
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Contour banks in steep sugarcane land in north Queensland hinder
farm machinery operation and take up valuable farmland. Therefore
cane growers do not favour this conventional soil conservation
practice. Vetiver contour hedges have been used successfully
for soil conservation purpose, they do not hinder machinery operation
and take up much less land.
VS has also been successfully used as a replacement for contour banks on
sloping grazing and agricultural lands.
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Offsite pollution control |
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Vetiver grass is highly tolerant to farm
chemicals so VS is very effective in trapping nutrients and agro-chemicals
in runoff water, preventing these pollutants reaching rivers
and streams. Over 90% of phosphate and, pesticides and herbicides
were trapped in sugarcane farms in North Queensland and cotton
farms in Central Queensland respectively. Similar results were
also recorded for pineapple lands in South East Queensland. |
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Flood erosion control |
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Strip cropping practice on the floodplains
in Australia was designed to control flood erosion damage but
this practice is ineffective in drought years and it takes, on
the average 30% of the land, out of productive use. Flood damage
to the soil and crops was eliminated and 30% more land could
be used for cropping when VS substituted the strip-cropping layout
in the floodplain of the Darling Downs. |
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Erosion and sediment control
on Acid Sulfate soil |
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Due to its high tolerance to acid sulfate
conditions vetiver grass was used to stabilise drainage channels
and to trap nutrients and farm chemicals in runoff from cane
lands. VS was used in a project designed
to improve water quality in drains on acid sulfate soil on the
Queensland Gold Coast City Council in stabilising canal bank
and trapping nutrients and farm chemicals in runoff from sugarcane
lands. |
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