Soil fertility decline in some Major Soil Groupings under permanent cropping in Tanga region, Tanzania

Geoderma ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred E. Hartemink
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred E. Hartemink

Plantation agriculture is more than 400 years old and contributes to the regional and national economies in many tropical countries. This paper reviews some of the main environmental issues related to plantation agriculture with perennial crops, including soil erosion, soil fertility decline, pollution, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Soil erosion and soil fertility decline are of concern in some areas, but in most plantations these are being checked by cover crops and inorganic fertilizer applications. Few studies have been conducted on the issue of carbon sequestration under perennial plantation cropping. Reductions in deforestation yield much greater benefits for a reduction in CO2 emissions than expanding plantation agriculture. The biggest threat to biodiversity is the loss of habitat through expansion of the plantation area. Despite the environmental problems and concerns, this review has shown that crop yields of most perennial crops have increased over time due to improved crop husbandry including high-yielding cultivars and improved soil management. It is likely that more attention will be given to the environmental aspects of plantation cropping due to the increasing environmental awareness in tropical countries.


Nature Plants ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Vanlauwe ◽  
J. Six ◽  
N. Sanginga ◽  
A. A. Adesina

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred E. Hartemink ◽  
Jan F. Wienk

Sisal was a major foreign exchange earner for Tanzania in the 1960s, when annual production was 234 000 tonnes, or one-third of the world output. But by the mid 1980s, it was down to 30 000 tonnes, due to a decline in the area under sisal and in the yield per hectare. Sisal cultivation decreased because of low prices following competition with synthetic fibres, and productivity fell because of poor husbandry — specifically, continuous cultivation without fertilizer applications. There has been renewed interest in sisal cultivation since the mid 1980s, but the successful rehabilitation of old sisal plantations depends on good management of soil fertility, amongst other factors.


Author(s):  
Tamirat Wato

Agriculture plays a central role within the Ethiopian economy. In our country, concerning 85% of total population depends on agriculture and its product. This implies agriculture provides a good portion of national product growth. In spite of the importance of this sector, production and productivity area units restricted by varied biophysical, social and economic aspects. Soil fertility decline is one of the central issues that scale back Ethiopian agriculture and at last, it ends up in poverty and starvation. The main causes of those entrenched challenges are the land degradation showed in type of soil fertility decline, as introduced by varied hindrances as deforestation, overgrazing and through a consequence of wearing away, deposit, pollution, etc. Hence, the core objectives of this review are to evaluate the soil fertility status in Ethiopia, the sources of soil fertility decline and find improved resolutions to soil fertility in Ethiopia. As the physiological factors of the country are rugged with dynamical sorts of soils, preponderantly the upland wherever regarding 90% of the tillable land is concentrated, difficulties such as soil erosion, meager and incessant cultivation are the chief reasons of soil fertility loss. Thus, the application of combined soil fertility management approach with presence and mixture of manure, compost, crop rotation, soil protection practices provides improved production and saves the soil fertility standing to an improved level. The apply undertaken by the government of Ethiopia, is that the application of optimum rate of fertilizers, but it's not thriving as a results of various factors like amendment of agroecology, edaphic factors, the social and economic state of affairs of the farmer, repair to property combined soil fertility management to get high yield while not compromising the soil fertility position within the future, this can be broad and needed to be followed.


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