Tropical Land Clearing for Sustainable Agriculture: The SMN Concept

Abstract

"The goal was to establish a Soil Management Network on Tropical Land Clearing for Sustainable Agriculture. During this workshop three aspects were considered: 1. Definition of the problem and its limits. Choice of land to be cleared, clearing methodology, post-clearing management, and rehabilitation of degraded lands were the major points discussed. A multidisciplinary approach was used, with representatives from soil science, agronomy, civil engineering, sacioeconomics, and other areas. A realistic research agenda considered both experimental and time imperatives. 2. Form of the network. I t was decided that the networKs struc- ture and organization must be sufjíciently coherent to retain the advantages of a network and suficiently flexible to take into account local priorities."