[Objective] In recent years, the non-point source pollution caused by agricultural intensification, especially the erosion of ditches, has become increasingly serious. Water pollution is exacerbated by ditch erosion and nutrient loss into the river, whereas the effect of plants on reducing ditch erosion and nutrient loss have not been quantified. Therefore, the influences of plants on reducing ditch erosion and C, N and P loss were studied to provide technical support for the prevention of ditch erosion and control of pollution. [Methods] In this study, the ditches of Nala watershed in the intensive sugarcane growing area of South subtropical China were taken as the research object. A kind of herbaceous plant named vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash) was planted with different vegetation coverage in the ditches. Regular field investigation and monitoring of planted ditches were conducted after rainfall from April to October ,and the characteristics of erosion and nutrient loss under different vegetation coverage were quantified.. [Results] ①From April to October, the width, erosion, nutrient loss of the ditches with different vegetation coverage gradually over time, and all the indices were in the same order: BG > SC > MC > CC; ②Compared with BG, the erosion amount of SC, MC and CC decreased by 37.01%, 71.60% and 75.04%,C loss decreased by 35.56%, 70.91% and 75.23%, N loss decreased by 35.89%, 71.01% and 74.39%, and P loss decreased by 34.22%,70.59% and 77.01%, respectively; ③The correlation analysis showed that the erosion amount of ditches was significantly negatively correlated with the coverage and plant root density (p < 0.01), which accounted for 91.94% and 89.23% of the erosion changes, respectively. [Conclusion] The results showed that with the increase of vegetation coverage, the ditch erosion and nutrient loss gradually decreased, and there was no significant difference when vegetation coverage was between MC and CC, which can provide reference for ameliorating the ditch erosion and reducing pollutants in other water sources areas.