Question

Many farmers harvest their crops in the fall and then let the leftover plant material stay on the ground over winter. how does this help prevent erosion?

Answer 1

When the leftovers are left in the autumn, they have two purposes:

- Preventing erosion; the roots remain in the ground, so they hold it tightly till the next planting of the crops.
- Fertilizing the soil with natural material; the roots will not rot quickly in the colder period of the year, but will start rotting much faster in the spring, thus they will enrich the soil.