Deforestation
Deforestation is another major problem affecting soils today.
Farmers clear and burn patches of forest to make way for crops
to
be planted. This is sometimes called ‘slash and
burn’.
The trees that have been cut and burned leave behind a
nutrient-rich ash suitable for growing crops. However, because
many of these farmers are unable to afford the manufactured fertilisers
needed to maintain the soil’s fertility, the land soon becomes
impoverished, is often abandoned, and a new site is then prepared
in a similar manner.
Thus forests are destroyed and soils are impoverished and become
vulnerable to erosion.
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