干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In the semi-arid Mahafaly region of SW Madagascar productivity of predominant low-input subsistence agriculture is limited by several constraints and food insecurity is a serious problem. Due to the lack of water, dwindling land resources and low soil fertility, improved cropping systems that use available resources in a more efficient and sustainable way are urgently needed. Here, indigenous soil knowledge can help to identify sustainable management approaches of land use. In this context, our aim was to investigate indigenous soil knowledge in three selected villages using participatory approaches, analyze the physical and chemical properties of local soil types and compare indigenous with scientific soil classification systems.

Based on the World Reference Base for Soil Resources most of the studied soils were Lixisols and Arenosols. Malagasy farmers classified the soils mainly according to color and texture of the topsoil. Soils with a darker color were determined to be more productive and "Mainly" (black soil) and "Mena" (red soil) were considered as of highest fertility. Although many of the soil names coincided, there was a striking difference between villages, which probably reflects differences in environmental conditions, but also differences in ethnic origin and traditional livelihoods and belief systems. Overall, the local perception of farmers on low soil fertility corresponded to the scientific soil assessment. Given that currently local strategies for soil productivity enhancement are weak which reflects lacking long-term experience in crop management of the agro-pastoralist communities, the results of this study may help to develop recommendations for such strategies that fit traditional belief systems. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.