Rainfall harvesting on slopes using contour furrows with plastic-covered transverse ridges for growing Caragana korshinskii in the semiarid region of China

A rainwater harvesting system on slopes using contour furrows with plastic-covered transverse ridges designed to be used in small rainfall dominated areas of the semiarid loess region of China has been tested from 2001 to 2004. The system consisted of constructing contour furrows on the loess slope at a distance of 5 m with plastic-covered transverse ridges built in the furrows between shrubs of Caragana korshinskii. There were three treatments in the study: (1) plastic-covered ridge with gravel-mulched furrows (T1), (2) plastic-covered ridge with bare furrows (T2), and (3) control (no ridge and no contour furrow) (T3).