Tropical Asia is a region comprising South and Southeast Asia and under strong influence of the Asianmonsoon climate. It is characterized by an extremely high population density and by high land use intensity.Paddy ri...Tropical Asia is a region comprising South and Southeast Asia and under strong influence of the Asianmonsoon climate. It is characterized by an extremely high population density and by high land use intensity.Paddy rice cultivation is the most important form of agriculture in the greater part of the region. Soilresources of tropical Asia have a specific feature in comparison with tropical Africa and America. Ultisolsdominate in uplands, and lowland soils like Inceptisols and Histosols are relatively abundant. The latterpoint is made clearer if we take the landforms of the region with a vast extent of lowlands into consideration.Geologically, tropical Asia with the Himalayan orogeny and active volcanism exhibits a conspicuous contrastto tropical Africa and America with the dominance of the shield structure. This along with the monsoonclimate should have determined the basic features of landforms and soil, and accordingly all the agriculturaland social characteristics of tropical Asia today. Although paddy rice cultivation in the lowland is highlysustainable, upland cultivation in extensive Ultisol areas tends to be handicapped by low fertility and higherodibility of the soil, resulting in low sustainability. Land shortage is compelling people to exploit slopelandsin hills and mountains, on the one hand, and thus far unutilized coastal lowlands, on the other. Both ofthese new reclamations are facing to serious land degradation problems today. Tropical Asia will continueto be the most densely populated region of the world with ever-increasing population. In order to meet theincreasing food demand lowland rice cultivation should be intensified by the infrastructure development toease the stresses on slopelands and vulnerable coastal lowlands. At the same time, upland crop productionin Ultisol areas should be stabilized and enhanced, providing integrated nutrient management and measuresfor soil conservation.展开更多
文摘Tropical Asia is a region comprising South and Southeast Asia and under strong influence of the Asianmonsoon climate. It is characterized by an extremely high population density and by high land use intensity.Paddy rice cultivation is the most important form of agriculture in the greater part of the region. Soilresources of tropical Asia have a specific feature in comparison with tropical Africa and America. Ultisolsdominate in uplands, and lowland soils like Inceptisols and Histosols are relatively abundant. The latterpoint is made clearer if we take the landforms of the region with a vast extent of lowlands into consideration.Geologically, tropical Asia with the Himalayan orogeny and active volcanism exhibits a conspicuous contrastto tropical Africa and America with the dominance of the shield structure. This along with the monsoonclimate should have determined the basic features of landforms and soil, and accordingly all the agriculturaland social characteristics of tropical Asia today. Although paddy rice cultivation in the lowland is highlysustainable, upland cultivation in extensive Ultisol areas tends to be handicapped by low fertility and higherodibility of the soil, resulting in low sustainability. Land shortage is compelling people to exploit slopelandsin hills and mountains, on the one hand, and thus far unutilized coastal lowlands, on the other. Both ofthese new reclamations are facing to serious land degradation problems today. Tropical Asia will continueto be the most densely populated region of the world with ever-increasing population. In order to meet theincreasing food demand lowland rice cultivation should be intensified by the infrastructure development toease the stresses on slopelands and vulnerable coastal lowlands. At the same time, upland crop productionin Ultisol areas should be stabilized and enhanced, providing integrated nutrient management and measuresfor soil conservation.
