Tillage erosion on slopes with soil conservation structures in the Ethiopian highlands Jan Nyssen a,* , Jean Poesen a,b , Mitiku Haile c , Jan Moeyersons d , Jozef Deckers e a Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, K.U. Leuven, Redingenstraat 16, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium b Fund for Scienti®c Research, Flanders, Belgium c Makalle Á University, PO Box 231, Makalle Á, Ethiopia d Royal Museum for Central Africa, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium e Institute for Land and Water Management, K.U. Leuven, Vital Decosterstraat 102, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium Received 23 November 1999; received in revised form 2 May 2000; accepted 22 June 2000 Abstract Soil translocation due to tillage by the ox-drawn ard plough appears to be an important source of colluviation behind stone bunds and lynchets in the Ethiopian highlands. To quantify erosion rates caused by this plough in Ethiopia, painted and numbered rock fragments, 3±5 cm in intermediate diameter, were used as tracers to monitor soil movement on 16 sites, each having a different slope gradient, in the district of Dogu'a Tembien, Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Average tillage depth was 8.1 cm and the net mean downslope displacement distance per tillage operation ranged from 4.7 cm for a 0.03 m m 1 slope to 34.4 cm for a ®eld with a gradient of 0.48 m m 1 . There was a strong correlation (R 2  0:84, P < 0:001) between slope gradient and downslope displacement. Where present, large rock fragments (>15 cm intermediate diameter) are obstacles to the downslope movement of tilled soil. The unit soil transport rate (Qs) per tillage operation ranged from 4.8 kg m 1 on the 0.03 m m 1 slope to 38.7 kg m 1 on the 0.48 m m 1 slope. These values represent the mass of soil deposited by tillage behind 1 m of lynchet or stone bund. During each tillage operation the same mass of soil is also removed from the foot of the upper stone bund or lynchet. For the ®rst tillage operation, before the onset of the rainy season, the tillage transport coef®cient (K) was 68 kg m 1 . As farmers till 1±4 times per year, annual K values can be assessed to range from 68 to 272 kg m 1 . These values are less than those observed for mechanised tillage, which however, is usually conducted on less steep slopes. On average, tillage erosion can be held responsible for half of the sediment deposited behind newly constructed stone bunds in the Tigray highlands. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Ard plough; Colluviation; Ethiopia; Soil conservation; Tillage erosion 1. Introduction Land degradation, deserti®cation and soil erosion are recurrent phenomena in the northern Ethiopian highlands (Hurni, 1990). Erosion rates are partially controlled by soil and water conservation structures, such as lynchets and stone bunds, which result in the development of progressive terraces (Hudson, 1992). Sediment accumulates behind the vegetative barriers of the daget (lynchets) and behind stone bunds. These structures act not only as a partial barrier for water- induced erosion, but at the same time form a total barrier to tillage translocation (Turkelboom et al., 1997; Govers et al., 1999). Colluviation occurs in Soil & Tillage Research 57 (2000) 115±127 * Corresponding author. Tel.: 32-16-326414; fax: 32-16-326400. E-mail address: jan.nyssen@geo.kuleuven.ac.be (J. Nyssen). 0167-1987/00/$ ± see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0167-1987(00)00138-0