Soil Conservation Engineering

Abstract

AT the outset I have to thank the Soil Conservation Society of India for in-viting me to preside over their Soil Conservation Engineering Section, during the 2nd Annual Session. I do not know what my claim to that honour is in their view. But on my personal part I have accepted the invitation on two considerations. One is that in the course of my duties as the Chief Engineer, Irrigation, I travel in all parts of the Bombay State, not only along the highways but mostly along its byways or noways, in search of sites for Major Irrigation Schemes. This affords me almost unrivalled opportunities to observe as to what is happening to our countryside. The second is that I am probably one of the few Engineers, who have been im-pressed with the importance of soil conser-vation methods, specially as a relief to scar-city areas. I had an occasion to make once a rough calculation as to what is the maxi-mum extent to which we can give protection of irrigation in these scarcity areas, and I came to the conclusion that we can protect only 20 per cent of the land against total failure of one crop. Moreover, irrigation facilities cannot be provided anywhere and everywhere. They can be provided in places where conditions of site and location are favourable. Against this the soil conserva-tion methods, which also effect moisture conservation to a certain extent, are of uni-versal application. Hence the benefits of soil conservation can be extended to almost every piece of land.