OCHRANA EROZNĚ OHROŽENÝCH CHMELNIC PŘED VODNÍ EROZÍ

Žatec hop gardens have been keeping an importatnt position in the Czech Republic as well as in the world. However, up till now, the Czech Republic has had no systematic protection against water erosion during cultivation of hop gardens (Humulus lupulus L.). Due to the fact heavy rainfall have been eroding tremendeous amount of soil every year in hop gardens threatened by water erosion, the transported soils by water from hop gardens have caused lots of problems in both open landscape (unbuild) and built-up areas (villages, cities etc.). This results in increasing of financial costs for villages (or local government) and decreasing in soil fertility of arable land, which has been resulting in unsustainabily of the current situation and requires to take effective and efficient measurements in order to protect hop gardens threatened by water erosion. One of the possibilities is to use appropriate intercrop planted in inter-row of hop plants. Suitable choosen intercrops may significantly reduce water erosion. This paper presents tested soil conservation technologies based on three principles: low economic costs, non influenced profitability (yield) and sufficient soil protection. The results are clearly show that tested soil conservation technologies in hop gardens have a great potential.