Soil depletion

[fractalgem]

First I spammed a bunch of sugarcane farms in a very green area; several years later I noticed the quality for sugarcane was noticeably lower. There's nothing in the game about this that I saw, and internet searches have turned up contradictory descriptions of what's going on...as well as contradictory solutions. What's really going on, and how would I go about solving this if I kept a game running indefinitely? Do I NEED to solve it or will it solve itself?

Note: I have no DLC's, just the base game.

[RalphRoberts]

I've not noticed this but on the other hand I never have very many suger farms. A stop-gap solution would be to use the fertilize soil edict, if you've got Modern Times.

[fractalgem]

Originally posted by RalphRoberts:

I've not noticed this but on the other hand I never have very many suger farms. A stop-gap solution would be to use the fertilize soil edict, if you've got Modern Times.

modern times

I have no DLC's whatsoever. :P

[RalphRoberts]

Originally posted by fractalgem:

Originally posted by RalphRoberts:

I've not noticed this but on the other hand I never have very many suger farms. A stop-gap solution would be to use the fertilize soil edict, if you've got Modern Times.

modern times

I have no DLC's whatsoever. :P

I've just played a 30 year game where my first and primary industry was 6 Sugar Plantations in close proximity supplying 3 Rum factories. I noticed no significant soil degredation in the area at any point over 30 years. Are you on campaign, a scenario, a bonus mission or just plain sandbox?

[fractalgem]

Originally posted by RalphRoberts:

Originally posted by fractalgem:

I have no DLC's whatsoever. :P

I've just played a 30 year game where my first and primary industry was 6 Sugar Plantations in close proximity supplying 3 Rum factories. I noticed no significant soil degredation in the area at any point over 30 years. Are you on campaign, a scenario, a bonus mission or just plain sandbox?

Campaign.

The theories I've seen proposed for perceived soil depletion were: random and temporary climate shifts, depletion of the specific resource, depletion+rejuvenation of some hidden variables (crop rotation as the long-term solution).

I'm not even entirely sure there was all that much of a change to the actual production, even if the color changed enough to notice.

[Bipolar Bear]

Yes this can definitely happen under some circumstances which I still don't understand.. I've been playing this game for years and I remember it happening more often than not.

[smidlee]

It seems in my games if I build farms and ranches too close to other buildings including other farms they eventually deplete the soil. It seems to be the same way if I have too many boats fishing the same area.

[fractalgem]

Originally posted by smidlee:

It seems in my games if I build farms and ranches too close to other buildings including other farms they eventually deplete the soil. It seems to be the same way if I have too many boats fishing the same area.

I know that fishing areas deplete somewhat rapidly but get replenished periodically. I've seen an area go from completely depleted (not even red) to green.

I just...don't know if crops work the same way, or if something else is going on.

[[OeO]FoxKrieg]

Pollution is a factor in soil quality, at least in Tropico 5. It's been a while but I'm fairly certain this is a mechanic in 4 as well. Hope this helps.

[Mac Like-a The Potty]

Lawlz is correct, the problem is pollution.
The farms will generate pollution, build a garbage dump in the vinicity to help lower it or spread out the farms more. Maybe even remove one or two depending on how many you built, you don't need a huge number of them anyway.

[Hey you]

possible organization?

[Hey you]

Originally posted by Hey you:

possible organization?

and by that i mean teamsters and garages and worker in general. also where the sugar cane is growing in the vicinity of eachother

[cswheele]

farms deplete the soil quality. if u want to get a very easy fix for this just mosey on over to humble bundle and compare the modern times dlc prices. usually humble is cheaper and goes to charity.

[cswheele]

the bio farms are the solution to this and so is the fertilization edict available from modern times as well. i just suggest waiting until after u have built only biofarms to deploy the fertilizer as u can only do it once. bio farms do not degrade soil quality