In conservation agriculture, the no-tillage cultivation system and the retention of permanent
vegetal cover are crucial to the control of soil erosion by water. This paper analyses the cultivation of
maize under no-tillage, with particular reference to the effect produced on soil erosion when weed
control is performed by a hand tool (machete), which disturbs the surface of the soil, and to the
behavior of the soil cover in these circumstances. The study area is located in the humid tropical
mountains of northern Nicaragua (Peñas Blancas Massif Nature Reserve). The results obtained show
that 59.2% of the soil surface was affected by appreciable levels of sheet and splash erosion, although
the vegetal cover of the soil was relatively high (with average weed and litter cover of 33.9% and
33.8%, respectively). The use of machetes for weed control provoked considerable soil disturbance,
which explained the high rates of erosion observed. Moreover, this form of soil management disturbs
the litter layer, making it less effective in preventing erosion. The litter remains loose on the soil
surface, and so an increase in soil cover does not achieve a proportionate reduction in the area affected
by erosion; thus, even with 80–100% weed and litter cover, 42% of the cultivated area continued to
present soil erosion.
