Abstract
BackgroundCharacterizing and describing soils and land use and make a suggestion for sustainable utilization of land resources in the Ethiopian Rift valley flat plain areas of Lake Chamo Sub-Basin (CSB) are essential.ObjectivesTo (1) characterize soils of experimental area according to World Reference Base Legend and assess the nature and extent of salinity problems; (2) characterize land use systems and their role in soil properties; and (3) identify best land use practices used for both environmental management and improve agricultural productivity.MethodsTwelve randomly collected soil samples were prepared from the above land uses into 120 composites and analyzed.ResultsOrganic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) were varied along different land uses and depleted from the surface soils. The soil units include Chernozems (41.67%), Kastanozems (25%), Solonchaks (16.67%), and Cambisols (16.67%). The identified land uses are annual crops (AA), perennial crops (PA), and natural forest (NF). Generally, organic carbon, total nitrogen, percentage base saturation (PBS), exchangeable (potassium, calcium, and magnesium), available phosphorus (P2O5), manganese, copper, and iron contents were decreased in cultivated soils. Soil salinity problem was observed in annuals. Annuals have less nutrient content compared to perennials in irrigated agriculture while it is greater in annuals under rainfed. Clay, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium (K2O) contents were correlated positively and highly significantly with organic carbon and electrical conductivity.ConclusionManagement practices that improve soil quality should be integrated with leguminous crops when the land is used for annual crops production.
Highlights
Characterizing and describing soils and land use and make a suggestion for sustainable utilization of land resources in the Ethiopian Rift valley flat plain areas of Lake Chamo Sub-Basin (CSB) are essential
Land use characterization across CSB For ease of presentation, landscape position, drainage, erosion, type of vegetation, permanent field cropping, traditional agroforestry, indigenous soil, and water management in rainfed and irrigated conditions are treated as land use characterization units in this text
The data obtained from the study area have shown that there is medium-scale irrigated agriculture in the study area by private farms like Amibara and Lucie, but small patches of lands under small-scale irrigation are in nearby areas
Summary
Characterizing and describing soils and land use and make a suggestion for sustainable utilization of land resources in the Ethiopian Rift valley flat plain areas of Lake Chamo Sub-Basin (CSB) are essential. The agro-ecological zonation can be defined as a spatial classification of the landscape into area units with similar agricultural and ecological characteristics (Hurni 1999; Tuma 2007) Attributes of such units determine similarities, such as (a) comparable agro-climatic conditions for annual cropping, perennial cropping, or agroforestry; (b) comparable land resource conditions such as soil, water, or vegetation parameters; and (c) similar land management conditions such as ruggedness of agricultural land or general topographic variations. Such attributes determining similarities of units can further be distinguished through on the spot verification of actual conditions and anticipated potentials. Despite the great economic importance of traditional fruit-based land use systems in the area, limited studies have been carried out
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