LOSSES OF ORGANIC MATTER AND NUTRIENTS BY WATER EROSION IN CASSAVA-BASED CROPPING SYSTEMS

Erosion trials under natural rainfall were conducted at two locations in the Andean hillsides of south-west Colombia on moderate slopes. Sediment-bound losses of seven cassava ( Manihot esculenta ) cropping systems per cropping period ranged from 26 to 1726 kg ha −1 for organic matter, 0.9 to 65.5 kg ha −1 for total nitrogen, 0.03 to 2.1 kg ha −1 for exchangeable magnesium, 0.04 to 2.8 kg ha −1 forexchangeable potassium and 0.004 to 0.8 kg ha −1 for Bray-II phosphorus. Runoff water contributed substantially to total available potassium, magnesium and phosphorus losses. Concentrations of soluble phosphorus in runoff water from heavily eroded continuously clean-tilled fallow plots were slightly higher than from cropped and fertilized plots. Enrichment ratios for sediments from these highly aggregated Inceptisols were low. Sand-sized particles were selectively removed by water erosion. The higher proportion of nutrient losses with run-off water in our study stressed the importance of runoff control along with attempts to control soil losses and thus diminish both nutrient losses and surface water eutrophication.