5. Conclusions
This study shows that the agroforestry system of coffee
cultivation with Musa spp and Inga spp shade trees is effective
in terms of soil conservation in the humid tropical uplands of
Nicaragua. The results obtained showed that the most influential
erodibility factor was the litter layer. The threshold of erosion was
60–65% of the litter layer. At this level, the area affected by erosion
was reduced to around 13% and, qualitatively, the visual signs of
erosion were minimal. The methods used are considered
satisfactory, because they enabled us to analyze the erosive state
and to establish effective measures to improve the conservation of
soil resources in the agroforestry system in question. The methods
presented are some of the main contributions of this work, offering
the possibility of establishing erosion thresholds under other
environmental and management conditions.
Acknowledgements
This study was performed within the framework of the
Mesoamerican Agroenvironmental Program (MAP),
financed by
the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and carried out by the
Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre
(CATIE), in collaboration with the project Application of the
Methodology of Field Schools (ECA) to raise awareness among
small farmers and livestock breeders in the tropical mountains of
Central America on the problems of land degradation, funded by
the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation
(Spain).