Evaluation of Different Soil Conservation Practices on a Tea Plantation in Taiwan

In recent years, intensive development on steep slopeland in Taiwan has resulted in serious soil erosionand induced environmental deterioration. Tea plant is one of the highly economic crops that have beenplanted on over 21,000 hectares of slopeland in Taiwan. Thorough assessment of soil erosion problem is,therefore, necessary to ensure proper slopeland development and appropriate soil conservation practices.The objective of this study is to select the best practice to attain effective runoff and erosion control on a teaplantation in Taiwan. The results indicated that the bench terrace with vegetative cover and straw mulchcould control soil erosion effectively. The measured soil loss and runoff data were also applied to validatethe Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The results showed that the RUSLE was able toadequately predict soil erosion on the tea plantation.