Soil erosion under tree crops
1988
Hashim, Ghulam Mohd
Three-crop cultivation is an important component of the agriculture of many tropical countries. In general, agriculture in these countries is expanding into steeper and more hilly areas because of the exhaustion of flat lands. Therefore in future one can expect more tree crops to be planted on steep terrain. Although the crops are considered to be able to simulate the natural forest in minimizing soil erosion, past work has shown that soil loss and runoff are substantial even under mature trees. For example, under mature oil palm, Maene and his coworkers measured a loss 14,900 kg/ha/annum along the harvesting path. But, if pruned fronds are present on the ground, soil loss was only, 1,100 kg/ha/annum. The Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia reported a soil loss of up to 132 kg/ha under rubber over a 15 month period with a rainfall of 3250 mm. Under a cocoa stand on a 6 degree slope, soil loss was greater than 2096 kg/ha during the period August 85 to August 86 with a rainfall of 2743 mm. In contrast, in nearby forest on a similar slope, the loss was between 58 to 448 kg/ha. Results of measurements made in an area in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia indicate that in order to achieve a satisfactory level of soil conservation on steep slopes, the agricultural system should be tree-based with adequate ground vegetation.
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