H. Schreier et al., MAINTAINING SOIL FERTILITY UNDER INCREASING LAND-USE PRESSURE IN THE MIDDLE MOUNTAINS OF NEPAL, Soil use and management, 10(3), 1994, pp. 137-142
Nepal is facing a serious problem of being unable to maintain soil fer
tility in agriculture and forestry. Land use practices initiated over
the past 10-15 years have resulted in insufficient nutrient inputs, wh
ile biomass use and production have increased. Changes in forest soil
fertility have resulted from intensive use of forest biomass for anima
l feed and collection of forest litter for use in agriculture. The agr
icultural fertility changes have resulted from intensifying annual cro
p rotations from 1.5 to 2.5 crops and insufficient inputs. The removal
of biomass from the forest has curtailed the natural organic cycle by
virtually eliminating nutrient inputs. The soils are very acidic and
have little C, N, P and exchangeable bases, but have large amounts of
active iron. Basic nutrients are not sustained in agriculture and diff
erences in inputs and management between irrigated and rainfed agricul
tural systems are becoming visible. Irrigated fields show the largest
cation content because of input from irrigation water. Rainfed agricul
tural sites, which receive the most nutrients (fertilizers and manure)
, have the highest pH values and C and N contents. All soil fertility
conditions are marginal and put into question the long-term sustainabi
lity of current levels of production. Alterations in the cropping inte
nsity are needed and the introduction of nitrogen fixing trees and cro
ps seems to be the most viable option towards sustainability.