Agricultural research for watershed restoration in central Mexico

More than 60% of Mexico's soil and water resources has been identified as b eing in a moderately to severely degraded condition. The objective for this Mexico-United States project was to identify Best Management Practices tha t could restore agricultural soil in the steep hillslopes of the Patzcuaro Watershed in central Mexico. The use of no-till equipment and preserving a moderate amount of crop residue (33% coaler) on soils having 8% slope reduc ed roil loss 80%, and runoff 76%, compared to conventional tillage. Rainfal l simulation studies indicated that water infiltration is enhanced almost t hree-fold using no-till. improvement of water infiltration and deep-water p ercolation would represent a significant modification of the local hydrolog ic regime for fake recharge and soil moisture retention for cropland areas. Using hydrologic process-based modeling with satellite images and Geograph ical Information Systems allowed the extrapolation of point-based experimen tal data to the watershed scale. This technology will provide the decision- making elements needed to develop soil conservation plans and implement a n ational program for conservation tillage in Mexico.