Cocoa and coffee agroforestry on hillslope: root, soil structure, infiltration and ecological restoration.

  • Saputra, Danny (PI)
  • van Noordwijk, Meine (CoI)
  • Saputra, Danny (PhD candidate)
  • van Noordwijk, Meine (Promotor)
  • Giller, Ken (Other)

Project: PhD

Project Details

Description

Together with Ivory Coast and Ghana, Indonesia accounted for two-thirds of cocoa bean production in 2014. It is also one of the top-10 coffee producers of the world. However, cocoa and coffee productivity, quality and consistency are deteriorating. The differences of plant and soil management in agriculture systems lead to differences in soil degradation rate and nutrient losses, which ultimately influence soil fertility and crop productivity. On the other hand, as a country with a hundred of active volcanoes, Indonesia is actually gifted with fertile volcanic soils that are well suited for plant growth. However, deposition of ash during volcanic eruption on the short term has a detrimental effect on soil physical properties as well as ecological functions. Nevertheless, soil can develop as self-regenerating system against degradative processes known as ‘the internal restoration’, mainly through adoption of restorative management systems such as agroforestry. However, there is only limited empirical understanding of best management options for agroforestry practices as well as it shapes resiliency toward soil degradation and extreme condition. The objectives of this research are: a. understanding the role of soil organic matter and root density in the restoration of soil aggregate stability, macroporosity and infiltration, b. exploring best management options in cocoa based agroforestry, c. exploring the resilience of coffee based agroforestry compared to natural forest and cropped field towards extreme stress condition (volcanic ash deposition), d. exploring best management options in coffee based agroforestry system related to plant yield and surface hydrological function using WaNuLCAS model simulation.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/12/1930/10/23

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