Sustainability of subtropical crops: keys for land management, agricultural use, and spatial planning

Soil management is a key issue for the correct conservation of the land, which allows us to guarantee the care of the environment and guarantee the food security of the population. However, unsustainable management due to the use of herbicides, tillage and intensification of plantations are difficulting this task. On the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, in the provinces of Malaga, Granada and Almeria, the introduction of subtropical crops as a replacement for other traditional species (olive groves, grapevines and almonds) is generating a destabilization of the soil, to date little studied. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to carry out an exhaustive study of soil conditions using soil profiles and descriptions together with soil analysis, considering an experimental plot in the Guadalhorce Valley (Malaga) as the study area with avocado, mango and mandarin crops. The results show how the degradation of the soil profile in all its horizons and properties after unsustainable management is intense. This will affect the quality of production and productivity. Therefore, degradation control measures are necessary, not only at the parcel level, but also at the regional level so that this problem does not spread to a larger scale in the territory.