Unique geography allows for wide variety of soils
July 23, 2020 – Puerto Rico is just one of seven islands of an archipelago in the Caribbean. The July 22ndSustainable, Secure Food Blog explores how farmers take advantage of the wide variety of soils to plant various crops.
Blogger Beverly Alvarez Torres explains, "about 23% of our land is well-suited to agriculture. The land on the islands varies quite a bit. All these territories formed from underwater volcanic activity. They emerged from the ocean's surface at different geological periods and environmental conditions such as temperature and pressure."
"One of the most notable geologic formations is the central mountain chain that crosses Puerto Rico from east to west. The landscape position of the mountains plays a very important role differentiating climate conditions from northern to southern regions on our island."
The soils of Puerto Rico are quite diverse, depending on the region where they developed:
- The northern plains of Puerto Rico contain soils that are great for grazing and pasture land.
- The southern plains' soils are great for growing fruits such as pineapple.
- The southwest and central areas have soils great for pasture and hay production.
To find out more about Puerto Rico's diversity of soils, read the entire blog: https://sustainable-secure-food-blog.com/2020/07/22/how-do-the-various-soil-types-in-puerto-rico-support-different-crops
The American Society of Agronomy is an international scientific and professional society with its headquarters in Madison, WI. Our members are researchers and trained, certified professionals in the areas of growing our world's food supply, while protecting our environment. We work at universities, government research facilities and private businesses across the United States and the world.
