L'érosion des sols cultivés en France sous l'action du ruissellement

Abstract

Soil erosion by runoff in the cultivated areas in France. After the works to restore the soils in mountainous areas at the end of the 19th and in the 20th, the main concern is now focused on erosion in plateaux and hilly areas : the loamy regions in the North and North East E.E.C. and the « Terreforts » of the South Western France with a large-scale farming industry, vineyards on slopes, some parts of old massives. A comparison is made with other countries in Western Europe, especially in the non Mediterranean area. Changes in the land organization and agricultural mechani zation are supposed to increase the soil erosion hazard. Large-scale field research must be developped, together with research on erosion processes to establish conservation practices adapted to this cultivated areas.