The Evaluation of Soil Erosion C Factor
Franco Mari

Abstract
According to USLE model, soil erosion depends on a number of factors including type of crop (C factor). Tillage is the only agricultural practice with an evident impact on soil erosion. This has led us to estimate the above mentioned factor by the characteristics of tillage. These characteristics are amount of tillage, mode of tillage and sward absence. They were respectively estimated by normalizing the rates of agricultural mechanization companies, by the coefficients of the environmental hazard of tillage tools and by the ratio between the time that elapses from the first tillage and the emergence of the crop and the total time for which the crop remains on the soil. Referring to conventional cropping, an appropriate algorithm has allowed us to calculate the C factor for a number of crops for which it is already known from literature. The obtained values confirm the correctness of the estimation model.

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