Assessing of the Suitability of Arable Land in the Watersheds of Rivers Rusenski Lom and Dobrudja Danube Tributaries for their Efficient Use and Erosion Control

Diyana Nekova, Vihra Stoinova

Abstract: Watersheds of Bulgarian part of Danube river catchment area are characterized by extremely diverse terrain, from flat and hilly in the Danube valley to low mountainous in the Fore and mountainous in the northern slopes of Stara Planina. This, together with other factors such as climate, soils, and landuse (field crops, permanent crops and pastures) determines water erosion as the most significant degradation process, which reduction is an important prerequisite for sustainable development of agriculture in this part of the country.
The paper presents an assessment of the suitability of the arable lands for effective erosion prevention use in the watersheds of the rivers in the eastern part of the Danube plain, Rusenski Lom and Dobrudja Danube tributaries. This evaluation is based on the information of the degree of erosion risk, use of arable land, and the actual soil erosion losses. Optimal practices for soil erosion control are proposed on the basis of these evaluations. The cost of these erosion prevention practices is calculated on the bases of the current values of the compensation costs.

Keywords: compensatory payments; erosion; erosion control practices; soil loss

Date published: 2017-02-21