Algunas notas sobre la erosión de suelos en la provincia de Córdoba

The most fertile agricultural lands in Cordoba province are located throughout the Valley and Campiña. Despite their productivity, the Mediterranean climatic conditions impose several constraints (rainfall irregularity, reduced vegetation cover) that contribute to increasing soil loss. Moreover, the hydrological properties of vertic soils (the most frequent soil type in the Campiña, with high clay content and runoff production) along with a soft underlying parent material (marls) may favour the formation of concentrated flow erosion features such as rills and gullies. In many cases involving both annual crops and olive orchards in Cordoba, the degradation of the soil by water erosion has been proven to be well above sustainable rates. This is a consequence of intensive agriculture management, landscape simplification, and the absence of soil conservation practices. In addition, there are several off-site erosion effects such as as reservoir siltation and sediment deposition in riparian areas that lead to the reduction of effective channel sections and hence flooding. The solution to these problems requires the participation of different stakeholders including farmers, researchers, policymakers and technicians, as well as the consideration of economical issues. It is important that feasibility studies on conservation measures include the costs of unmanaged on-site and off-site erosion. According to soil institution reports, these may be within the same order of magnitude as conservation costs. Further coordinated efforts are needed to address this key environmental aspect, despite the fact that there have been some recent advances within the sector