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Report, 2003

Agroforestry combined with water harvesting in the central zone of Chile: soil properties and biomass production

Salazar; Osvaldo, G

Abstract

This paper analyses a study of agroforestry combined with water harvesting in the inner rainfed zone of central Chile during a four-year period. The aim of this study was to provide knowledge on agroforestry combined with water harvesting and to evaluate its performance in the semiarid zone of Chile. Both soil properties and plant growth in the agroforestry systems with water harvesting were analysed and the results compared with those of other crop management systems in the same zone. Soil analysis revealed a lack of differences between treatments, a fact that might be related mainly to the short study time. The use of runoff water for supplemental irrigation of agroforestry systems in the central zone of Chile proved to be beneficial for both soil properties and plant productivity. Agroforestry with water harvesting showed higher positive effects in soil properties such as soil organic matter content and total nitrogen content, mainly in the deeper layers, than the other crop management systems. Acacia saligna trees with water harvesting produced the highest growth. The annual prairie in agroforestry with water harvesting showed the lowest biomass production, which might have been related to the increased shading by the trees

Keywords

agroforestry; water harvesting; Chile; soil properties; biomass production

Published in

Avdelningsmeddelande / Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för markvetenskap, Avdelningen för lantbrukets hydroteknik
2003, number: 03:2
Publisher: Institutionen för markvetenskap, Avdelningen för lantbrukets hydroteknik, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Agricultural Science
Forest Science

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/29664