Cattle Grazing and Environment in Eastern Nigeria: Impact on Soil Physical Properties

Abstract

The physical properties of soil in fields grazed by cattle for at least fifteen years were compared with adjacent arable crop fields in eastern Nigeria to assess the impact of grazing on such properties as particle-size distribution, pore-size distribution, hydraulic conductivity and bulk density. The four locations selected for the study were Adada, Nsukka, Okpatu and Ikem. An analysis of variance indicated that the location effect was significant on all the soil physical properties (P ≤0.001), while the effect of grazing was significant on silt content (P=0.01), macroporosity, total porosity, bulk density and hydraulic conductivity (P ≤0.001). Similarly the location x grazing interaction effect was significant on all properties except in the contents of clay, fine sand, and total sand. The study also showed that those soil properties affected by grazing were generally improved in ungrazed rather than grazed fields. It was concluded that if grazing were not controlled, these soil properties would continue to deteriorate and that this could lead to extensive soil erosion in the area.