Economic Analysis of Soil Erosion in Nehzatabad Watershed in Kohgiluyeh County

Subject Areas :

Vajiheh Ghorbannia Kheybari ¹ , Mohsen Armin ²

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resources Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Natural Resources, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resources Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Natural Resources, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.

Received: 2024-02-08 Accepted : 2024-07-11 Published : 2024-07-04

Keywords: Check dams, Sediment yield, Soil nutrients, Replacement Cost Method,

Abstract :

The phenomenon of soil erosion in Iran is one of the serious problems in the fields of agriculture and natural resources, the effects of which appear in various forms and the result of which is the creation of direct and indirect costs for the country. Most of the soil erosion researches in Iran have dealt with the technical investigation of this phenomenon, and the lack of scientific information on the economic consequences of soil erosion is quite noticeable. In this study, the direct economic cost of soil erosion using the Nutrient Replacement Cost Method (NRCM) and the analysis of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) losses in sediments deposited behind check-dams in the Nehzatabad watershed with an area of 5570 hectares in Kohgiluyeh County was estimated. The results showed that in the studied time period (2018-2019), a total of 378.42 tons of sediment was deposited behind the 11 study Check-dams in the Nehzatabad watershed, and these sediments contain 0.03, 0.53 and 5 tons of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively. Taking into account the price of a 50 kg bag of triple superphosphate, urea and potassium sulfate 5500, 1500 and 6250 thousand rials respectively (government rate, year 1402), the cost of buying the chemical fertilizer necessary to maintain and restore soil productivity in the area the of Nehzatabad watershed is equivalent to 1620417.5 thousand rials. By calculating the amount of soil erosion through the volume of sediments deposited behind the Check-dams, it was also determined that the total direct cost of soil erosion losses in average, maximum and minimum NPK losses is 5328413.39, 26693396.77 and 52463.83 thousand rials, respectively. Of course, this amount of cost is based on soil erosion calculated from 0.001 to 1.08 tons per hectare per year in the upstream basins of the Check-dams built in the Nehzatabad watershed, which is compared to the average soil erosion rate in Iran, which in most the mentioned scientific documents of about 16 tons per hectare per year is a very small number.

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