Deforestation in tropical rainforests leads to soil depletion primarily due to which practice?

Deforestation in tropical rainforests leads to soil depletion primarily due to which practice?

• A. Crop rotation
• B. Cash-crop agriculture
• C. Contamination by pesticides
• D. Use of fertilizers

Answer: (B)

Deforestation removes the forest's nutrient recycling system and leaves soil exposed to erosion. When land is cleared for a single cash crop, it’s usually used as a monoculture with little or no fallow periods. The nutrient-rich litter layer is gone, nutrients are taken up in harvests year after year, and heavy rainfall washes away exposed soil. This rapid, repeated removal of nutrients depletes the soil far more than diverse cropping would. While crop rotation can help, and fertilizers can temporarily replenish nutrients, the key driver of long-term depletion after clearing is the conversion to cash-crop agriculture.

Deforestation removes the forest's nutrient recycling system and leaves soil exposed to erosion. When land is cleared for a single cash crop, it’s usually used as a monoculture with little or no fallow periods. The nutrient-rich litter layer is gone, nutrients are taken up in harvests year after year, and heavy rainfall washes away exposed soil. This rapid, repeated removal of nutrients depletes the soil far more than diverse cropping would. While crop rotation can help, and fertilizers can temporarily replenish nutrients, the key driver of long-term depletion after clearing is the conversion to cash-crop agriculture.