ABSTRACT:
Topsoil loss by soil erosion frequently results in crop productivity decline. This study evaluated the impact of 5, 10, 13, and 40 cm topsoil removal on the productivity of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). The trial was conducted on the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) experimental station at Santander de Quilichao, Colombia. The soil was a well drained, kaolinitic-amorphous, isohyperthermic Oxic Dystropept. Organic matter was a key factor for productivity and the yields of these three crops were dramatically reduced by topsoil loss. Fertilizer could not restore lost productivity. The most important constraint to plant growth was aluminum saturation which increased sharply with topsoil loss.
Footnotes
Felicitas A. Flörchinger is a former research assistant with the Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics department of Hohenheim University. Dietrich E. Leihner is professor and head of the Tropics and Subtropics department. Norbert Steinmüller is a research assistant working with Dr. Leihner. K. Müller-Sämann is the former coordinator of a research project located at the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) experimental station in the Andean highlands of Colombia. Mabrouk A. El-Sharkawy is a former senior scientist with the CIAT cassava program.
- Copyright 2000 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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