‎Impacts of Agricultural Practices on Physical and Chemical Qualities of Biophysical Environment in Save (Republic of Benin)

Agricultural practices are increasingly affecting the environment. Various diseases related to environmental pollution are recorded everywhere due to new agricultural practices. Indeed, agricultural inputs, pesticides, and herbicides destroy the quality of waterways and soils and affect the health of populations as well as the use of machinery that is not suitable for agricultural activities. This is the case of Save in Benin. Certain water-borne diseases are common in the region and are linked by the populations to agricultural practices. This study aims to find the correlations between these practices and the quality of biophysical environment to confirm or not, the concerns of the populations. It was made by surveys with 150 people and analyses of samples of water and soil by standards methods in the area. The results of physical and chemical parameters obtained reveal positive correlations between agricultural practices and soil impoverishment. Indeed, for example, 21% of those enquired use only herbicide for land clearing and 49 %, intensely chemical inputs. Similarly, 50 % of soils contain arsenic. The values of parameters of surface waters are generally in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. But on some sites, the total nitrogen concentration, of up to 2840 ppm, is above the standards and also that of magnesium, whose value is 2278 ppm. These findings provide information on the importance of the number of farmers using chemical inputs and the quality of soils and surface water. The results obtained partly justify the assertions of the populations regarding their concerns.