Jacobsen, Sven-Erik

Sander, Lasse

English

Copenhagen University Research Information System

u n i ve r s i t y  o f  co pe n h ag e n  Københavns UniversitetThe quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian AltiplanoSander, Lasse; Jacobsen, Sven-ErikPublished in:Geophysical Research AbstractsPublication date:2014Document versionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordCitation for published version (APA):Sander, L., & Jacobsen, S-E. (2014). The quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian Altiplano: linkinggeomorphology, erosion and spatial production patterns. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 16, [10371].Download date: 03. Feb. 2020Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-10371, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.The quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian Altiplano - linkinggeomorphology, erosion and spatial production patternsLasse Sander (1) and Sven-Erik Jacobsen (2)(1) Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, (2) Department ofPlant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DenmarkQuinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a native Andean crop that gained worldwide popularity over the last fewdecades due to its outstanding nutritional properties. The plant is characterized by an exceptional adaptation andis able to produce decent yields despite harsh environmental conditions like drought, frost, or soil salinity. Quinoais thus an exceptional income opportunity in the arid southern Bolivian Altiplano, an area endemically struck byrural poverty and malnutrition.In the early 1970s, the Bolivian government introduced the first tractors to southern Bolivia’s Salar region withthe intention to push agricultural development – with obvious success. The cultivation of quinoa is today the mostimportant land use, with a continued increase in production volume and areal extent.We here trace back land-use changes from 1972 to 2013 in one of the most important areas of quinoa production.Using Landsat images, SRTM elevations and field survey data, we investigate the relationship of field areas toerosion patterns and large-scale geomorphology.The soils of the southern Bolivian Altiplano are highly susceptible to particle entrainment due to a loose andsandy substrate, strong winds, and rapid drainage during precipitation and snow melt events. It appears that manyof the first quinoa fields were established on flood plain deposits, where good yields could be anticipated despitethe apparent risk of erosion. The subsequent expansion of production areas was paralleled by an increase in fielddensity. Locally, this implied a reduction of fallowing length and the incorporation of marginal lands. The almostcomplete removal of natural (i.e. protecting) vegetation over large and continuous areas, results in increased winderosion and partial crop failure.While production extended by approx. 1,6 % per year between 1985 and 2003, an average annual increaseof 8,4 % could be observed for the last decade, when many new fields were established at lower elevations.While agricultural exploitation prior to 2003 was mainly restricted to quaternary alluvial deposit, the post-2003expansion entered the flat shoreface topography of late Pleistocene Lake Tauca (18-14 ka BP; Placzek et al 2006)and hence a domain of increased soil salinity.These recent developments pretty well illustrate southern Bolivia’s “quinoa boom”: an escalating, land-intensiveproduction on marginal soils, characterized by high erosion rates and a dissipative resource use. Given the aridconditions and the resulting low resilience of the landscape, the current trends are likely to trigger widespread landdegradation, jeopardizing future livelihood opportunities.ReferencesPlaczek C, Quade J, Patchett, PJ 2006. Geochronology and stratigraphy of late Pleistocene lake cycles onthe southern Bolivian Altiplano: Implications for causes of tropical climate change. GSA Bulletin 118, 515–532.Jacobsen, S-E 2011. The situation for quinoa and its production in Southern Bolivia: From economic suc-cess to environmental disaster. J. Agronomy & Crop Science 197, 390–399.

The quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian Altiplano:linking geomorphology, erosion and spatial production patterns

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The quinoa boom of the southern Bolivian Altiplano:linking geomorphology, erosion and spatial production patterns

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