Subsistence crop production on hillsides is a key cause of deforestation in tropical countries such as Honduras where scarcity in fertile and productive land force farmers to migrate to cultivate on steep hillsides. However, soil conservation practices are not widely implemented because farmers may not perceive their economic benefits. We evaluated soil losses by integrating deforestation and erosion processes, economic concepts, and GIS methods to assess economic and biophysical conditions in hillside farms at the upper Calan river watershed in central Honduras during the rainy season of 2003. Five runoff plots were located, as replicates, in four land uses: forest, pastureland, agriculture with live barriers, and agriculture without live barriers. Runoff, sedimentation, and nitrogen loss from these plots were measured and the cost of replacing nitrogen with commercial fertilizer was estimated. Projecting the results into a whole basin, scenarios were built with Geographical Information System software to identifyThe authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of CIAT (International Centre for Tropical Agriculture), especially Miguel Ayarza for financial and logistical support, and Julio Herrera from FHIA (Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research) for his contribution in data analysis. Downloaded by [TOBB Ekonomi Ve Teknoloji] at 10:23 20 December 2014 58 S. Rivera et al.critical locations for erosion control. Our findings suggest that agriculture without live barriers produces the highest erosion rate (40 ton/ha/yr) and the most costly loss of nutrients (nearly US$1,000/ha/yr). We recommend that conservation practices, specifically live barriers, be implemented that can offer benefits to farmers by reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss, thereby avoiding the purchase of costly fertilizers.
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