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The rubber tree, a species of Amazonian forest tree, is cultivated for its natural rubber-rich latex. Its cultivation is of economic, social, climatic and environmental importance. However, it has been criticized as a soil-destroying crop. To clear up this ambiguity, a study was launched to assess the health of soils under rubber cover in southern Côte d'Ivoire. The methodology involved selecting rubber plantations of 1 to 5 years, 6 to 10 years, 11 to 20 and 20-40 years, and two (02) 42-year-old rubber tree plantations, abandoned for 8 years, were compared to those of a forest. In these biotopes, soil samples were taken using an auger and a metal cylinder, then analyzed in the laboratory to determine soil fertility and ecological parameters. The results showed that the saturated soils of young plantations aged 6 to 10 years are poor in organic matter and cation exchange capacity, mainly calcium and magnesium. However, organic carbon stocks are high in abandoned plantations (182.38 mg/ha) and plantations over 20 years old (164.5 mg/ha). The assessed deterioration index reveals that soils in young plantations aged 6 to 10 years are degraded, with an SDI = -40%. These soils recovered as the plantations aged, with a SDI of 151% in abandoned plantations.
Djézou et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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