ABSTRACT
The soils of Maghreb were subjected to a rapid land use change during 1990s, especially those in Algeria. The landscape is mountainous, strongly dissected, with a very dense drainage, convex hillslopes with grazed or cultivated fields covering the whole hills even on the steepest slopes. Even in the topsoil, nitrogen and available phosphorus are deficient for cereals. Exchangeable sodium is not negligible in some fragile soils, but the presence of calcium carbonate and of stones in the topsoil increases the soil resistance to rain and runoff erosivity. The experimental treatments are representative of the most frequent land uses observed in this region, including traditional practices and some possible improved practices: plowing on the contour and ridging to improve the water storage and soil roughness, fertilizer use to enhance vegetation growth, vegetated fallow protection with the introduction of bushes and trees in the grazing lands, and legume and cereal rotations with recommended fertilizer use under vineyard and orchard.
