Soil And Water Conservation Engineering

By Prof. Rajendra Singh | IIT Kharagpur

Learners enrolled: 819 | Exam registration: 18

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The course deals with the engineering principles involved in soil and water conservation. It includes the classification of the water erosion, and the agronomical and engineering measures adopted for erosion control. The design of bunds and terraces are dealt in detail, followed by gully control measures. The wind erosion and measures to control it, e.g., the windbreaks and shelterbelt, are also included. Many examples and problems are included to emphasize the design principles and to facilitate an understanding of the subject matter. Computer models will be described where applicable.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Agricultural Engineering

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Agricultural and Food Engineering Integrated Soil and Water Management
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	20 Jan 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	14 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Soil erosion - introduction, causes and types;Geological and accelerated erosion; Erosion agents;Factors affecting and effects of erosion.
Week 2: Water erosion - Mechanics and forms; Gullies –Classification & stages of development
Week 3: Soil loss estimation – Universal soil loss equation(USLE) and modified USLE; Rainfall erosivity -estimation by KE>25 and EI 30 methods; Soil erodibility and other management factors.
Week 4: Measurement of soil erosion - Runoff plots, soil samplers.
Week 5: Water erosion control measures - agronomical measures - contour farming, strip cropping, conservation tillage and mulching; Engineering measures– Bunds and terraces.
Week 6: Bunds - contour and graded bunds - design and surplussing arrangements
Week 7: Terraces - level and graded broad base terraces, bench terraces - planning, design and layout procedure, contour stonewall and trenching.
Week 8: Gully and ravine reclamation - principles of gully control - vegetative measures, temporary structures and diversion drains.
Week 9: Grassed waterways and design
Week 10: Wind erosion- Factors affecting, mechanics, soil loss estimation and control measures - vegetative,mechanical measures.

Week 11: Design of wind breaks and shelter belts and stabilization of sand dunes
Week 12: Land capability classification. Rate of sedimentation, silt monitoring and storage loss in tanks.

Books and references

1. Fangmeier, W., Elliott, W.J., Workman, S., Huffman, R. and Schwab, G.O. 2005. Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, 5th Edition, Cengage Learning, Inc., Clifton Park, USA.

2. Frevert, R.K., Schwab, G.O. Edminster, T.W. and Barnes, K.K. 2009. Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, 4th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

3. Michael, A.M. and Ojha, T.P. 2003. Principles of Agricultural Engineering. Volume II. 4th Edition, Jain Brothers, New Delhi.

4. Murthy, V.V.N. 2002. Land and Water Management Engineering. 4th Edition, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi.

5. Singh Gurmel, Venkataraman, C., Sastry, G. and Joshi, B.P. 1996. Manual of Soil and Water Conservation Practices. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Instructor bio

Prof. Rajendra Singh

IIT Kharagpur

Education

UG – Univ. of Allahabad 1985; PG & PhD– IIT Kharagpur 1987, 1993

Post-Doctoral Research - Danish Hydraulic Inst., Denmark (1995-1996)

University of Connecticut, USA (1999-2000)

Teaching Experience

IIT Kharagpur – Lecturer 1989; Asst. Prof 1994; Assoc. Prof. 1999;

Professor 2003; Professor (HAG) 2009

Potsdam Univ., Germany– Visiting Professor 2007 (Summer Term)

Waikato Inst. of Tech., New Zealand - Visiting Professor 2012 (1 yr)

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 26, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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