Cabbages are recognized as the single crop most damaging to soil conservation. They have shallow, weak roots, and the surface soil lacks plant cover. There is a harvest every two or three months, after which the soil is turned up for new planting. As a result of these factors, soil erosion is three times worse than with fruit trees, and 15 times that of natural primeval forest.
學者指出，高麗菜是最不利水土保持的作物，由於葉菜根淺力弱，表土缺乏植被覆蓋，每二、三個月採收後，又要翻鬆土壤重新耕作，使得高麗菜土壤流失的程度是果樹的三倍、原始林的十五倍。