Sustainable Terraces In Sloppy And Hilly Regions

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course: Date: Sustainable Terraces: Annotated Bibliography The practice of terrace agriculture has been utilized extensively from the steep slopes of the South American Andes to the rice fields of Asia. This paper summarizes and analyzes three of the sources that would be used to support my argument regarding the use of terraces in sloppy and hilly regions. One of the sources would be used to provide an in-depth background of the topic of sustainable terraces. The second source would provide an alternate or competing view, while the third one would emphasize the importance of terraces and thus be in agreement with my argument. Duprez, Wilko. “Terracing: A double-edged solution for farming difficult landscapes.” The Solutions Journal, vol. 71, no.5(2016): 82-87. This source provides a background to the practice of terrace farming. Terrace agriculture is a very old practice and was widely used by ancient civilizations such as the Incas. It was first used in the Mediterranean region, specifically Mesopotamia. Farmers used terraces because of the rugged and rough terrain, steeper mountains and rising hills. Fields of lentils and barley covered the riverbanks and hillsides (Wilko 83). In about 2000 BCE, terraces were mainly made from piled rocks. They were irregularly shaped, narrow and uneven. In addition, every terrace held a dissimilar variety of crop. Even though terracing was common in the Mediterranean Basin, it was also practiced in other parts of the globe including South America, Africa and Asia. These regions did not influence each other in the development of terraces, thus showing how dissimilar cultures could actually find similar solutions for solving environmental challenges. The use of terracing provided a sustainable agriculture by reversing or restraining erosion and land degradation (Wilko 83). This source is important as it could be used to understand the background, evolution and development of terrace farming over the centuries. Also, the source helps to gain an understanding about the importance of terracing. According to the author, terrace farming is a very effective technique against water-based erosion (Wilko 84). When terracing is combined with modern tools, it could provide farmers in different parts of the globe with techniques for improving upon those of modern farming. Terraces provide a great solution for farming in areas characterized by high declivity terrain. Nonetheless, besides serving as water and soil retainers, terraces also provide a lot more. The controlled height in terracing will allow for greater soil depth than is actually possible with the natural environment, which provides more wetness to the plants and possibly allows various assortments of crops which could not do well on shallow soil layers (Wilko 85). Powell, Maisie. Terraced Agriculture: A step in the right direction. The Solutions Journal, vol. 6, no.6(2016): 74-77. Print. This source was chosen since it is in agreement with my argument regarding terrace farming and its benefits. According to Powell (74), the system of industrial agriculture used today is not only destructive, but also has various adverse impacts on human hea...