Abstract
The miombo woodlands of Tanzania have continued to be subjected to deforestation due to mainly agricultural expansion. Knowledge of long-term productivity of the subsequent land use can help to evaluate the sustainability of the existing land management systems. We used both socioeconomic and soil survey data to assess maize yield and selected soil properties, respectively, with an increasing cultivation period since conversion from miombo woodland. Data on maize production was collected from 121 households in three villages, while soil sampling was undertaken on 15 plots in one of the study villages. Soil samples were taken from miombo woodland and from croplands with cultivation periods varying from two to 52 years. Samples were taken at 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depths and analyzed for the major plant nutrients. According to the results of the socioeconomic data analysis, continued cultivation of former miombo woodlands does not have a significant effect on maize yield. The results of the soil analysis also showed that the major plant nutrients on farmlands in both soil layers did not show a significant change from the adjacent miombo woodland and did not decline with increasing cultivation period. This indicates that the current farming system can maintain the levels of the major plant nutrients and thus soil productivity.
Highlights
IntroductionThe global annual loss caused by land degradation is estimated to be USD 40 billion [3]
Deforestation and subsequent land degradation are common challenges worldwide [1,2]
The results of the linear mixed model analysis showed that the number of years of continued cultivation of the former miombo woodlands did not have a significant effect on maize yield
Summary
The global annual loss caused by land degradation is estimated to be USD 40 billion [3]. Expansion of agricultural lands have been reported as one of the main causes of land degradation [4]. This in turn has been resulting in soil quality deterioration and loss of productivity [1]. The miombo woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa have been one of the areas subjected to deforestation and forest degradation [5]. Agricultural expansion has been considered as one of the main proximate causes of deforestation in the country [9,10,11,12,13]. Sustainable agricultural production has been suggested as one way of limiting the expansion of agricultural land, and deforestation [15]
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