In a parallel study, García et al. (2011) estimated that with the average amount of organic matter applied to the vegetable fields in the course of the project (3950 kg DM ha-1 yr-1 of green manure and 3200 kg DM ha-1 yr-1 of chicken manure) the vegetable fields with the largest SOC contents would lose 2.5 Mg ha-1 yr-1 of SOC, while in the vegetable fields with the lowest SOC contents, SOC would in- crease by 3.06 Mg ha-1 yr-1. Farmers were able to reduce signifi- cantly soil erosion rates, but in the vegetable fields rates remained above the tolerance level of 5–7 Mg ha-1 yr-1. More innovations in soil management, such as reduced tillage and per- manent organic soil cover as mulch (Scopel et al., 2004; Johnson and Hoyt, 1999) have to be evaluated in order to achieve higher SOC levels and reduce soil erosion to acceptable levels.