AssessmentofUplandErosionProcessesandFarmerPerception.doc

Assessment of Upland Erosion Processes and Farmer Perception of Land Conservation in Debre-Mewi Watershed, near Lake Tana, Ethiopia Assefa D.Zegeye1,2, Tammo S. Steenhuis2,3, Robert W. Blake2,4 , Selemyihun Kidnau5 , Amy S. Collick2,3, Farzad Dadgari5 1Adet Agricultural Research Center, ARARI, PO.box 1326 Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (adz6@), 2Master’s Program in Integrated Watershed Management and Hydrology, Cornell University, at Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. 3Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA (tss1@, asc38@ ) 4Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 300 International Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (rwblake@) 5SWHISA, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (selamyhun@, fdadgari@sympatico.ca) For presentation at the International Symposium: “Ecohydrology for water ecosystems and society in Ethiopia” Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 18-20 November 2009 and submitted to Ecohydrologica Abstract Erosion is of great concern in the Ethiopian Highlands. The objective of this study was to determine the soil erosion rates under actual farming conditions by measuring the dimensions and number of rills in 15 agricultural fields in the Debre-Mewi Watershed near Lake Tana and to understand farmer attitudes towards land conservation through personal interviews held with one-third of the watershed households. The annual rill erosion rate was 8 to 32 t/ha. Greatest rates of erosion occurred at planting early in the season but became negligible in August. Major factors influencing land conservation decisions-were the demand of labor and lack of technical support for implementing new conservation measures from experts. Key words: Rill erosion, soil loss, farmer perception, SWC, Running headline: Upland Erosion and Perception of Land Conservation 1 Introduction Soil erosion creates severe limitations to sustainable agricultural land use, as it reduces on-farm soil productivity and causes food insec