Reducing top soil erosion from young tea fields on Cachar teelas with jute geotextiles

Abstract

Field experiments  were carried out at two tea estates in Cachar  to evaluate the effectiveness of  biodegradable jute geotextiles against soil erosion from young tea fields on teelas.  At one of the sites, two types of geotextiles, viz., GEONET Type I (34 x 15 threads/dm, 425 g/m2) and GEONET Type II (17 x 4.6 threads/dm, 350 g/m2) were laid out across the slopes in between rows of young tea plants. In the other site GEONET Type I was compared with the conventional method of green crop plus mulching.  Results indicated that  the jute geotextiles alone or in combination with green crop were effective in reducing soil erosion from young tea fields on teelas.  The GEONET Type I  appeared to be superior to GEONET Type II.