The deterioration of cacao soils in Trinidad
Soil deterioration in the cacao fields of Trinidad is mainly caused by (a) soil erosion (profile truncation), (b) continual removal of nutrients by the crop, (c) changes in soil biological conditions. Since the amounts of organic matter and nitrogen, as well as the magnitude of the C/N ratio, normally diminish with increasing depth in the soil profile, truncation progressively exposes humic soil having lesser amounts of organic matter and smaller C/N ratios. Thus low contents of organic matter having low C/N ratio reveal the incidence of soil erosion and their magnitudes indicate the extent to which erosion has proceeded. The numerical values for C/N ratio in the top six-inch layers of cacao soils in Trinidad have been proved to be positively correlated with yielding capacity. Diminishing C/N ratios of cacao soils appear to be accompanied by increasing nitrogen contents of the leaves of the cacao trees which the soils support. This in turn seems to be manifest in increasing susceptibility to certain pests, such as mealybug. Continued removal of nutrients by the cacao crop accounts for soil deterioration, particularly in soils developed over rocks deficient in mutable nutrient-rich minerals, such as some alluvial soils. Changes in biological conditions in cacao soils adversely affect the ecological relations of the micro-fauna and the micro-flora of cacao soils and may therefore account for soil deterioration in some instances
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Tafo (Ghana)
1971
|
| Subjects: | DETERIORO DEL SUELO, SUELOS, EROSION, BIOLOGIA DEL SUELO, FAUNA DEL SUELO, FLORA DEL SUELO, MATERIA ORGANICA, DEFICIENCIAS DEL SUELO, TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO, |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|