haiti soil survey and natural resources conservation initiative 1

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République d’HaïtiRepiblik d’Ayiti

FAMV

Soil Erosion Modeling for Sustainable Agricultural Systems in Haiti

70th Annual Soil and Water Conservation Society Conference

July 26-29, 2015

Greensboro, NC

The Haiti USDA/NRCS – Haiti Pilot Soil Survey Team

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Background• Haiti is mostly hilly country

• Highest soil erosion rates

• Population pressure

• Extreme Deforestation

• Flash Floods rains and hurricanes.

• Vulnerability to erosion

• Soil and water quality issues

• Low agricultural productivity

• Malnutrition

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Haiti forest cover ranges from ~ 1.5-2%

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Erosion Risk Vulnerability

Haiti 2010 National Plan

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Project Area

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From USLE to RUSLE2A = (r, k, ls, c, p)

• R = Rainfall erositivity

• K = Erodibility

• LS = 1 (Unit plot concept L = 72.6 ft., S = 9%) (Slope Effect Chart)

Plot fallow and tillage is up and down the slope

• CP= 1 Without a conservation practice

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RUSLE2 Features• Robust Soil Erosion prediction tool

• Intended to represent trends demonstrated in field data

• Not intended to be a precise estimator of soil loss or residue cover

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RUSLE2 Requirements

1. Location (climate)

2. Soil map unit component

3. Slope length (m) and steepness (%)

4. Crop Management (Use Rotation Builder)

5. Supporting Conservation Practices

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FAMVRUSLE2, Cul de Sac

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Cul de Sac Climate

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Despuzeau Cornillon

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Used San Juan climate information to Obtain R

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Despizeau and Cornillon

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Soils of Cul de Sac

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Cropping systems

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RUSLE2 Outputs• Calculates Daily soil loss

– Reported as annual soil loss

(Mg ha-1 yr-1) (Tonne ha-1 yr-1 )

• SCI (Soil conditioning Index)

– (SCI = OM + ER + FO)

• STIR (Soil tillage intensity rating)

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Output

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Management Summary

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Management, Estimated Soil Loss and SCI

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Soil Loss

Soil loss >>T

Most Soil Loss > T

Soil loss = T

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Flash floods Recovering from a flood

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Impacts of Soil Erosion• Loss of quality top soil (Tè a fatigue (La terre est fatigué)

– Nutrients, water, structure, biodiversity

• Land degradation

• Low crop yields

– Poverty

– Malnutrition

• Water quality

– Floods

– Disease

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7 annual soil loss, 1978, 15

annual soil loss, 1999, 37

annual soil loss, 2011, 50y = 0.3375x2 + 4.83x + 0.7425

R² = 0.9796

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100$0

$500,000,000

$1,000,000,000

$1,500,000,000

$2,000,000,000

$2,500,000,000

$3,000,000,000

1930 1978 1999 2011

Cost of soil replacement per tonne at prevailing market prices

Soil

loss

in H

aiti

fo

r 1

93

0,

19

78

an

d 1

99

9 a

nd

pre

dic

ted

so

il lo

ss f

or

20

11

(m

illio

n

ton

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s)

Co

st o

f s

oil

loss

fo

r 1

93

0, 1

97

8 a

nd

19

99

an

d p

red

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d s

oil

loss

fo

r 2

01

1

Soil loss for Haiti 1930, 1978, 1999 (FAO/World Bank) and soil loss predictions for 2011 and costs

$2 per tonne

$10 per tonne

$19 per tonne

$50 per tonne

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Estimated Cost of Land Degradation (S)(not building soil quality)

• Erosion: 0.7 – 14.0 billion

• Organic matter decline: 3.4 – 5.6 billion

• Compaction: no estimate

• Salinization: 158 – 321 million

• Landslides: up to 1.2 billion per event

• Contamination: 0.6 – 17.3 billion

• Sealing: no estimate

• Biodiversity decline: no estimateEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2006

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What Can We Do About It?

Lots of goodwill

– Governments

– Churches

– NGOs

– Foundations

– Universities

– Individuals

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Conclusion• Erosion

– Exerts a strong downward pressure on peasant incomes

– Significantly reduces government revenue

– Creates perennial dependence on foreign aid

Haitian counterparts now have the capability to use RUSLE2 in the pilot area

Help them use RUSLE2 all over the country ( managed lands)

haiti soil survey and natural resources conservation initiative 1

Environment