Which among the following is a method of soil conservation?

🔑Key Points:
-Mulching is a long-established horticultural practice that involves spreading a layer of material on the ground around plants to protect their roots from heat, cold, or drought or to keep the fruit clean.
-It is the process of covering the topsoil with plant material such as leaves, grass, twigs, crop residues, straw, etc.
-Mulches conserve soil moisture, improve soil nutritional status, limit erosion losses, inhibit weeds in crop plants, and remove pesticide, fertilizer, and heavy metal residues.
-Mulches enhance the visual appeal of landscapes while also increasing the economic worth of crops.

🔴Additional Information:

✏️Landslide:
-It is a mass movement that occurs in a gradual manner rather than the more sudden movement of an avalanche.
-Subsidence occurs when loose, water-saturated sediment begins to compact causing the ground surface to collapse.

-Contour barrier
-In steep terrains, the practice of building contour strips with stones, grass, and soil that intercept the downslope running of water is used to avoid soil erosion. These strips of stone, grass, and soil are called contour barriers.
-These barriers diminish the erosive force of the water by slowing it down.
-Many suspended soil particles are also filtered out and trapped, preventing them from being washed out of the field.
-Inter-cropping
-Inter-cropping is a soil conservation technique in which various crops are grown in alternate rows and sowed at different periods to protect the soil from rainwash.
-Inter-cropping involves using an agricultural field to produce two or more crops in a specific arrangement.
-The main advantage of inter-cropping is getting higher returns from the same piece of land which otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.
-Rock Dam​
-​Small obstacles composed of stone, sand, or gravel that divide a drainage system are known as rock dams. Its major goal is to prevent erosion in a drainage channel by limiting the channel's flow velocity.