Enhancing the processesbof water-cycle: Prospects for sustainable steepland agriculture in the tropics

Agricultural practices on steep slopes of the tropics, in the absence of scientific management, are vulnerable to various adverse outcomes arising from loss of soil fertility. The processes of soil erosion in the tropical steepland, being caused by excessive amount of rain-splash and runoff triggered by the force of gravity on steep slopes, it is necessary to enhance the processes of water-cycle. Estimation of soil loss have been carried in two tropical watersheds which proved that extreme rate of soil loss from steepland is one of the major reasons for a compulsive nomadic system of agricultural practice in the tropical terrain and its consequent impact on degradation of natural resources. Sustainability of this wandering agricultural system can be managed through stabilization of upper lithospheric crust for soil conservation. The prospects for conversion of this land culture into permanent agriculture lies in the implementation of partial engineering measures which are simple and cost-effective. This paper aims at the formulation of biosystems engineering measures of soil conservation with the help of biotic-natural resources which are easily accessible at all local levels.