The institute had developed a number of non-woven jute geotextiles for various applications in biotechnology. An attempt was made to study the effect of using different eco-friendly materials as soil cover for erosion control and residual moisture retention in the hilly slopes of Andaman island which suffers from the soil erosion to the extent of about 10-15 tonnes/ha/year. In order to conduct field experiments a land with an average slope of 30-40% was identified. Four eroded grass lands were selected for application of different geomaterials for soil cover viz. (i) geo-mat, (ii) jute sack, (iii) coir rope matting and (iv) control. Geo-jute matting of 3000 gsm basis weight was layered over one of the thinly grassed plot of land.

After each shower the representative samples of run off water as well as soil samples at depth of 10, 20 and 30 were collected from each plot for determining the soil moisture content under different applications of soil covers. Soil cover with bio-technical geo-non woven jute showed significantly high value while higher moisture content in the soil profile (upto 30 cm depth), after rainfall resulted in significant loss of soil and water compared to jute sack and coir matting. The geo-jute was found much effective in reducing soil loss and enhancing in-situ conservation of rain water compared to other treatments.

National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology (I.C.A.R)
12, Regent Park, Kolkata – 700 040. India.
Ph. No. 033-421-2115-6-7
E mail: asokmajumdar@yahoo.com