Total nutrient uptake and nutrients removed in harvested plant parts were determined for cassava grown for either root or forage production, maize, sorghum, peanut, mungbean, pineapple and sugarcane. All crops were grown in replicated plots on 7% slope on a sandy loam soil in Sri Racha, Thailand, during a 4 1/2-year period. Erosion losses associated with each crop were also determined by weighing at monthly intervals the soil sediments that had collected in plastic covered channels at the bottom of each plot. Cassava for root production had the lowest total uptake of major nutrients of all crops except mungbean. The amounts of N and P removed in the harvested plant parts were also much lower than those removed by other crops, while the amount of K removed by cassava was similar to other crops but much lower than pineapple or cassava grown for forage. This latter crop had a very high nutrient uptake and removal, especially that of N, K, Ca and Mg. On an annual basis, soil losses due to erosion were highest in cassava grown for roots, followed by cassava for forage, sugarcane, mungbean, sorghum, peanut, maize and pineapple. Thus, when cassava is grown for root production on slopes, it is likely to cause more erosion than most other crops due to its wide spacing and slow initial canopy development. Cassava farmers should therefore be encouraged to use special management practices that reduce erosion. However, it is unlikely that cassava causes soil degradation by depleting the soil nutrient supply, as N and P removal in the harvested part of the plant was actually lower than, and K removal was similar to that of other crops tested.