Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems
Soils have many ecological functions and provide various ecosystem services including support for global food and fuel production. However, FAO reports indicate that approximately one-third of the planet’s arable lands show levels of degradation from processes including soil erosion, low levels of n...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Spanish Journal of Soil Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/sjss.2022.10457/full |
| _version_ | 1797222399783993344 |
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| author | Maria Aparecida Marques Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado |
| author_facet | Maria Aparecida Marques Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado |
| author_sort | Maria Aparecida Marques |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soils have many ecological functions and provide various ecosystem services including support for global food and fuel production. However, FAO reports indicate that approximately one-third of the planet’s arable lands show levels of degradation from processes including soil erosion, low levels of nutrients, acidification, salinization, compaction, sealing, and contamination. These conditions are also found in Brazil where soil degradation is largely caused by inadequate land management. Worldwide, strategic policies have been presented to mitigate this problem, with emphasis on sustainable agriculture. Among them, agroforestry has been identified as a viable system for mitigating and recovering degraded areas. Agroforestry techniques have been developed and tested but are still not understood by farmers, due to their complexity. This study aimed to analyze experiences and studies with agroforestry reported from Australia, some countries in Africa, and Brazil to search for similarities in these complex systems and identify possible correlations to support the hypothesis that land recovery can be enhanced through soil management using agroforestry. A Sankey diagram was developed to illustrate relationships among problems, the adoption of agroforestry and improvements, and the most important contributions. Data analysis shows that the main problems related to soil degradation are soil erosion and decreased soil fertility, while the adoption of agroforestry systems proved to improve different aspects of soil quality and to be a safe path to sustainable agricultural production. To obtain more information on the adoption of these systems in different locations, soils, and climates, it is important to implement policies for reducing land degradation. Furthermore, the assessment of the economic, environmental and social benefits of improving soil fertility and decreasing erosion in agroforestry systems is necessary to validate the use of agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural practice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:20:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0899409ae9941b682f2c1415ac8bfd9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2253-6574 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:20:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Spanish Journal of Soil Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0899409ae9941b682f2c1415ac8bfd92024-04-04T15:34:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Spanish Journal of Soil Science2253-65742022-07-011210.3389/sjss.2022.1045710457Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry SystemsMaria Aparecida Marques0Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos1Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos2Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado3Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado4Graduate Program in Science Technology and Innovation in Agriculture, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, BrazilGraduate Program in Science Technology and Innovation in Agriculture, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, BrazilSoils Departament, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, BrazilGraduate Program in Science Technology and Innovation in Agriculture, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, BrazilMathematics Departament, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, BrazilSoils have many ecological functions and provide various ecosystem services including support for global food and fuel production. However, FAO reports indicate that approximately one-third of the planet’s arable lands show levels of degradation from processes including soil erosion, low levels of nutrients, acidification, salinization, compaction, sealing, and contamination. These conditions are also found in Brazil where soil degradation is largely caused by inadequate land management. Worldwide, strategic policies have been presented to mitigate this problem, with emphasis on sustainable agriculture. Among them, agroforestry has been identified as a viable system for mitigating and recovering degraded areas. Agroforestry techniques have been developed and tested but are still not understood by farmers, due to their complexity. This study aimed to analyze experiences and studies with agroforestry reported from Australia, some countries in Africa, and Brazil to search for similarities in these complex systems and identify possible correlations to support the hypothesis that land recovery can be enhanced through soil management using agroforestry. A Sankey diagram was developed to illustrate relationships among problems, the adoption of agroforestry and improvements, and the most important contributions. Data analysis shows that the main problems related to soil degradation are soil erosion and decreased soil fertility, while the adoption of agroforestry systems proved to improve different aspects of soil quality and to be a safe path to sustainable agricultural production. To obtain more information on the adoption of these systems in different locations, soils, and climates, it is important to implement policies for reducing land degradation. Furthermore, the assessment of the economic, environmental and social benefits of improving soil fertility and decreasing erosion in agroforestry systems is necessary to validate the use of agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural practice.https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/sjss.2022.10457/fullsoil recoverysustainable developmentfood securitysoil resourcesMillennium Development Goals |
| spellingShingle | Maria Aparecida Marques Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Lucia Helena Cunha dos Anjos Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado Angel Ramon Sanchez Delgado Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems Spanish Journal of Soil Science soil recovery sustainable development food security soil resources Millennium Development Goals |
| title | Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems |
| title_full | Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems |
| title_fullStr | Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems |
| title_short | Land Recovery and Soil Management with Agroforestry Systems |
| title_sort | land recovery and soil management with agroforestry systems |
| topic | soil recovery sustainable development food security soil resources Millennium Development Goals |
| url | https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/sjss.2022.10457/full |
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