Soil Degradation and Agricultural Production: Economic and Biophysical Approaches

In this chapter we give an overview of a number of approaches used in the biophysical sciences to quanta the relationship between agricultural production and soil degradation. First the concept of soil degradation is discussed, and the various components detailed. Then the approaches are assessed in the context of bio-economic models in which biophysical processes are linked to decision making processes at household, village and regional levels. The main emphasis of the chapter is on the household level where the direct interaction between decision makers and the biophysical processes takes place. Different biophysical approaches are presented, used for generation of data for incorporation in bioeconomic models.