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Flooding is a natural disaster that’s increasing alarmingly due to climate change in the last few years. The massive loss of life or/and property that are the aftereffects of a flood is getting pretty common all across the world.
But flooding destroys agricultural fields and the cycle of our food production too. So, along with city planning, we need to develop mechanisms and implement some strict policies for landowners and farmers as well.
If they plan well and invest smartly, agricultural fields and all the other assets can be protected. Of course, you can’t win against mother nature, but we can negate her.
So, here are some necessary steps to prevent flooding in fields:
There are places where flooding can’t be stopped. In those situations, you need to prepare for the floods. That way, you can reduce the damage significantly.
You can install a sump pump for a good start. And if you have it, ensure it works perfectly before the storm hits.
Create an alternative electrical system that can power your house for a few days if needed. Other than standard equipment, many powerful electric cars can also provide a great amount of power.
There are companies like Elpro who create efficient and automated flood warning systems that you can place in the fields to predict and prepare for the floods.
Also, clean your gutters and drainage if you know it’s coming down. Proper drainage can prevent or at least decrease flooding in agricultural fields.
You need to build a whole system to maintain all the watercourses, remove the sediments that gather up gradually, and keep a keen eye on how you can improve your drainage further.
You can build irrigation channels, embankment notches, barriers, ditches, and dikes to manage and direct the flood water and keep it at bay. You can use various materials to make these structures like stones, tree trunks, concrete, etc.
Keeping your drainage top-notch needs a lot of work, though. You must also clear the debris from all the trash screens, channels, and culverts. The maintenance can be exhausting, but that’s the best way to prevent flooding.
You can prepare your land in such a way that it shows resilience to huge amounts of water and flood from within. For that, you need to improve the water infiltration capability of your field.
Water infiltration refers to the speed at which water gets absorbed by the surface land and through the soil. Bettering it can stop localized flooding and bring groundwater levels up too.
Better infiltration results in improved water holding ability of the soil, and that in itself can be a boon to flood prevention. It decreases the land runoff, a primary reason behind soil erosion and depleting soil nutrients.
And erosion is a huge problem whether it’s related to flooding or not. Constant erosion means our land mass is shrinking gradually, and in the short term, it puts other animals into the fray.
Stopping erosion can be fruitful in your fight against floods. Create stream buffer zones and follow conservation instructions to make your landscape better prepared for both floods and erosion.
- Fighting nature with nature
Land management in any shape or form isn’t cheap. It requires a considerable capital investment in the initial stages, and you may think it’s a financial mistake. But according to many experts, it’s the best long-term solution.
Now, you can manage your land in various ways. But protecting natural resources and further investing in them has proven to yield the best results.
Proper management includes conservation of nature, appropriate drainage, and stopping erosion at the earliest before it becomes much more concerning.
A great example of management through nature is leaving the crop residue in the field or farming living plants throughout the year. Both of these ploys increase the level of organic matter in the soil. In addition, it increases the water holding capacity and heavily reduces sealing and soil crusting.
CONCLUSION
Flooding can severely damage agricultural fields and landscapes and postpone or reduce the harvest for a season. That can have a greater impact on the food cycle, as production will be hampered, and the prices will soar.
So, the tips stated above are the most basic and necessary steps that you need to implement if you want to prevent flooding in your field.
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