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Table of Contents
Terrace farming is commonly found through Asia and is also used throughout the world for cultivation purposes. Terrace farming can be used when the terrain is particularly hilly or steep.
See the fact file below for more information on the terrace farming or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Terrace Farming worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
DEFINITION
- Terrace farming is a technique in farming where a sloped surface is cut into flat layers, resembling a series of steps.
- It was invented by the Inca people who lived in the South American mountains.
- The terrace farming method has made cultivation of crops in mountainous or hilly regions possible.
- It is usually used anywhere there is a hill or a mountain, particularly in Asia by rice-growing countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, where terrace farming is the chosen method.
- As a matter of fact, the terraces of rice found in the Philippine’s Cordilleras have been acknowledged as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Terrace farming is also generally used in islands such as the Canary Islands because they have hilly terrains.
- Aside from the cultivation of rice, terraces are also used to grow potatoes and maize.
- Three of the most important crops that are grown using terrace farming are rice, wheat, and barley.
HOW DOES TERRACE FARMING WORK?
- Terrace farming is a technique of farming whereby “steps” known as terraces are built onto the slopes of hills and mountains.
- Whenever it rains, instead of rain carrying away the soil nutrients and plants down the slope, they flow to the next terrace.
- Every step has an outlet that channels the water to the next step. This helps in keeping some areas dry and others wet.
- In very high altitudes, different crops apart from rice can be grown, because rice does not do well in high altitudes.
TYPES OF TERRACING
- Graded terraces, also called channel-type terraces, control erosion by reducing the hillside slope length of overland flow, and then by conducting the intercepted runoff to a safe outlet at a non-erosive velocity.
- A graded terrace can either have constant or variable grades along its length.
- Level terraces are built to preserve water and control erosion. In low to moderate rainfall areas, they trap and at the same time hold rainfall for infiltration into the soil profile.
- The level terraces follow a contour line and are fully suited for permeable soil.
ADVANTAGES OF TERRACE FARMING
- There is a bunch of logic and thought behind terrace farming. Terrace farming is quite beneficial to the environment.
- Mainly, terrace farming prevents the rain from washing away the nutrients of soil. This results in the healthy growth of crops.
- Besides, it blocks the carrying away of plants by the heavy flowing rivers of water.
- Terrace farming is an important agricultural technique that has made farming in mountainous parts of the world possible.
- The absence of terrace farming would have led to most parts of Asia being unproductive.
- Hence terrace farming needs to be explored in other parts of the world such as Africa, America, and other parts of Asia that are not yet using it.
- Terrace farming is capable of turning the moist idle land into productive farms leading to high food security in the world.
- Terrace farming also helps in retaining the soil nutrients of the farms.
DISADVANTAGES OF TERRACE FARMING
- Terrace farming can be dangerous at some point because it can lead to rainwater saturation in some hilly areas. There are high rains in the hilly area causing an overflow of water and seldom the flow becomes too dangerous that it can wash anything with it.
- On the contrary, the consequence of overflowing water is that it causes more dangerous water runoffs.
- Terraces, in addition, may result in mudslides if not well managed.
- Another limitation of terrace farming is that there is a need for huge inputs of labor to construct and maintain the terraces.
- Hence it is expensive as it is labor-intensive. Nevertheless, there is a possibility for it to be cheap if there is access to cheap labor.
- Due to the leaching process, terrace farming can lead to a reduction in soil quality. Leaching is the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil, because of rain and irrigation.
Terrace Farming Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the terrace farming across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Terrace Farming worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the terrace farming which is commonly found through Asia and is also used throughout the world for cultivation purposes. Terrace farming can be used when the terrain is particularly hilly or steep.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Terrace Farming Facts
- Terrace Acrostics
- Terrace Places
- Find the Word
- Identification
- Gallery of the terrace
- The Concept of Terrace Farming
- Advantage vs. Disadvantage
- Crops of the Terrace
- Poster for Terrace
- Suggestions
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Link will appear as Terrace Farming Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, May 29, 2020
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.