Abstract
The lack of site specific fertilizer recommendation to replenish declining soil fertility has been the major challenge to boost crop production in Ethiopia. Therefore, an investigation was conducted on soil pH and Av. P status assessment and mapping at wuchale district. About One hundred sixty one (161) geo–referenced soil samples were collected by using grid survey method. For both soil parameter analysis standard laboratory analysis were followed. In order to predict values for not sampled locations the Ordinary Kriging interpolation was used by ArcGIS10.3 software. The pH of the soil samples ranged from 4.84 to 6.67 and about 98.13% of all agricultural soils were acidic in reaction. The district has three categories of soil pH but the majority of the area falls in moderately acidic, strongly acidic and neutral soil pH which account area share of 51.55%, 46.58% and 1.87% respectively. Available P ranged from 2 to 64.79 ppm. The available phosphorus level is categorized as low, medium and high which is 26.70%, 52.80% and 20.50% respectively. The dominating class is medium i.e. (5 to 15ppm). Appropriate rate of lime needs to be applied or cultivating acid tolerant crops is recommended for both strongly acidic and moderately acidic soils of the study district to obtain optimum crop yields. The areas which are low in available soil phosphorus level need to be improved by adding organic manures (FYM/Compost) and inorganic fertilizers to boost the agricultural productivity of the study areas.
Highlights
In Ethiopia, agriculture, which is directly dependent on soil resource, is the mainstay of the majority of the population and major driver of the national economy
Descriptions of the Study Area The study was conducted at Wachale district which is found in North Shewa zone, Oromia Regional State and 78 kilometers far from Addis Ababa to North and 34 Km from Fitche, the capital city of North shewa zone
According to [20], 26.70% of available phosphorus values fall under low category, 52.80% falls under medium category and 20.50% falls under high category from the total soil samples collected from the district (Table 5)
Summary
In Ethiopia, agriculture, which is directly dependent on soil resource, is the mainstay of the majority of the population and major driver of the national economy. Increased human population and other factors have degraded the natural resources in the country seriously threatening sustainable agriculture and food security [26]. The problems of land degradation and low agricultural productivity in the country, resulting in food insecurity and poverty, are severe in the rural highlands [18]. Misuse of soils, arising from a desperate attempt by farmers to increase production for the growing population, has resulted in soil quality degradation. It is associated with soil nutrient depletion by repeated cultivation with low external inputs of nutrients and soil erosion caused by long-term deterioration of natural vegetation and intensive cultivation [8, 16, 25]. The loss of soil nutrients in the country is related to cultural practices such as low fertilizer
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