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Soil chemical properties under modern and traditional farming systems at Khagrachari, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

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Abstract

Land degradation in Chittagong hill tracts has been taking place due to shrinkage of forest cover, policy weakness, population explosion, and inappropriate hill farming system. Modern farming system in the Chittagong hill tracts like Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) is practiced to provide a new strategy for developing lands for economic productivity and bio-diversity conservation through establishment of ecological community rather than traditional shifting cultivation which is no longer sustainable according to the carrying capacity of ecosystem of Chittagong hill tracts. This study is to find out changing trends of soil chemical properties of sites under modern and traditional farming systems at Khagrachari district of Chittagong hill tracts. The result of the research shows that Sloping Agricultural Land Technology has significantly higher capacity of production due to the presence of the highest percentage of organic carbon, organic matter, compared with shifting cultivated site. The study recommends that shifting cultivation may be changed into a relatively stable semi-permanent farming system through developing participatory integrated farming systems to establish stable production environment in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Sciences and Management, Independent University, House 15, Road No 14, Baridhara, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Shampa Biswas

  2. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, PO Box 646410, Pullman, WA, 99164-6410, USA

    Mark E. Swanson

  3. Soil Research Development Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrittika Bhaban, Farmgate, Krishikhamr Sarak, Dhaka, 1215, Bangladesh

    Jalal Uddin Md. Shoaib

  4. Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong-4331, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    S. M. S. Sirajul Haque

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  1. Shampa Biswas
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  2. Mark E. Swanson
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  3. Jalal Uddin Md. Shoaib
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  4. S. M. S. Sirajul Haque
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Correspondence to Shampa Biswas.

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Biswas, S., Swanson, M.E., Shoaib, J.U.M. et al. Soil chemical properties under modern and traditional farming systems at Khagrachari, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Journal of Forestry Research 21, 451–456 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-010-0096-x

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