Alandia, G.

Calderon, S.

Condori, B.

Jacobsen, S-E

English

Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Publication System

  
 Perspectives 
  Results 
Figure 1. Study area: Quinoa production area in the Bolivian Southern Highlands. 
G.Alandia1, S. Calderon2, B. Condori3, S-E. Jacobsen1 
1 Dep. of Agriculture and Ecology,  University of Copenhagen/ Taastrup, DK – 2630, Copenhagen, Denmark, e-mail: gar@life.ku.dk  
2ANDESCROP Project, Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Calle Landaeta esq. Abdón Saavedra 1850, La Paz, Bolivia. 
3 Climate Change Agriculture & Food Security (CGIAR/CCAFS), Calle Abdón Saavedra 2120, La Paz, Bolivia.      
  
Quantification of wind erosion under four different 
types of vegetation cover in quinoa fields of the 
Southern Bolivian Highlands 
Method 
The study is conducted in Saitoco, a community sited in a representative 
quinoa production area in the Southern Highlands. With a semi-arid 
climate, winds in this area can easily reach velocities of 25 m/s.  
Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) sediment samplers developed by Fryrear 
(1986), consisting of three samplers attached to wind vanes and horizontally 
mounted in a central pole at heights of 13.5, 50 and 150 cm were 
implemented in the community.  
The experimental unit is composed of a cluster of two BSNE collectors 
spaced 50 m apart horizontally across the field and disposed according to 
the predominant wind direction in the studied site. Three replications were 
considered within homogenous plots of 6400 m2. Wind erosion is being 
quantified in four different types of vegetation cover related to quinoa 
production systems: (1) quinoa plot without fertilization; (2) quinoa plot 
with traditional practices of fertilization; (3) fallowing plot, and (4) a 
natural vegetation plot (Fig 1).  
Meteorological information is monitored in the studied area through an 
automatic meteorological station, and clusters of anemometers at three 
different heights were implemented to monitor wind at the same heights of 
the BSNE samplers.  
Later the study is planned to quantify wind erosion in the absence of crops and 
to be implemented in other representative areas of quinoa production where 
erosion has been reported. This information is planned to be used to raise public 
awareness and if possible to apply results in a model to project quinoa 
production impacts for the future. 
  References 
Felix, D. and C. Villca (2009). "Quinua y territorio." Experiencias de 
acompanamiento a la gestión del territorio ya la autogestión comunal en la zona 
Intersalar del altiplano boliviano. Agronomes and Vétérinaires sans frontiéres. 
Fryrear, D. (1986). "A field dust sampler." Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 
41(2): 117-120. 
Sander, L. and G. Lukas (2011). Impacts of quinoa cultivation on soil stability in the 
fragile landscape ecosystems of the Southern Bolivian Altiplano: A case study 
from Chacala, Potosí. Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen: 55. 
Introduction 
The high nutritional value of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) has 
attracted increasing markets around the world. Many farmers in Bolivia 
have become interested in producing quinoa to improve their livelihoods 
through the exportation of this commodity. Consequently, the quinoa 
production area has extended significantly the last decades, increasing 
pressure on land and on natural resources, reducing native vegetation and 
soil fertility and even causing serious desertification processes in some 
areas. 
Due to the predominant sandy characteristics of soils in major quinoa 
production areas of Bolivia (the Southern Highlands), wind erosion 
constitutes an important problem for the sustainability of this region. Lately 
dust storms are taking place more frequently and harming production by 
covering completely the crop.  
Few studies have directly measured wind erosion (Sander and Lukas 2011); 
therefore the present research has the objective of quantifying wind erosion 
in the fields under different vegetation covers related to quinoa production 
system. 
The first set of data from the experiment is being collected from the 
implementation of the experiment, in September 2011, until the harvesting 
season, planned by the end of April 2012.  
Besides the characterization of the soil and soil water contents, the collected 
variables are: volume of eroded soil (t/ha); collected particle size; wind 
velocity relative to erosion (m/s); variation of erosion in relation to time 
(t/m2/year); and Nitrogen concentration in the sediment collected. 
Figure 2. BSNE samplers used and experimental design. 


Quantification of wind erosion under four different types of vegetation cover in quinoa fields of the Southern Bolivian Highlands

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Quantification of wind erosion under four different types of vegetation cover in quinoa fields of the Southern Bolivian Highlands

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