Abstract
The study was conducted at the Achewa, Adong and Mekod district which is located in the Itang sprcial woreda of West of Gambella Regional state. The present study, therefore, is designed with The general objective of to determine of the soil physical and chemical status of the study area. With specific objective of to evaluate the fertility status of the soils in the study area and to identify the potentiality of land to grow crops. Field survey was carried out and Descriptive statistics were employed, finally with critical value were used to analyze the data . Soil samples were collected from three districts of Achewa, Adong and Mekod. Composite soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-20 cm representing these land uses and analyzed for selected soil physiochemical properties such as Texture,soil pH, electrical conductivity, Exchangeable Bases, CEC, Available P, Available K, Total N and Organic Carbon. The results showed that the soils texture in all land uses are clay loam except Mekod which was clay in texture and soil pH were neutral in Achewa and adong whereas alikaline in Mekod. The low soil pH in cultivated fields was probably due to continuous removal of basic cations by crops and intensive Achewa and Adong that enhanced leaching of basic cations. The bulk density and total porosity values of the study area are within the acceptable rang for agriculture inorganic soil. The OM content of the study area (1.51, 1.34 to 3.12%), available P (13.72, 11.35and 16.43mg kg -1 ) and total N (0.164, 0.125and 0.245%) in Achewa, Adong and Mekod respectively. The soil exchange complex was mainly dominated by Ca and Mg where the order of occurrence was Ca > Mg >K > Na. The CEC values were very high ranging from 38, 45and cmol(+) kg -1 in Achewa, Adong and Mekod respectively . The results of the study revealed that the physical and chemical properties of the soils are highly variable to each districts In general, special attention should be given to Achewa and Adong district to improve the soil fertility status of soils so as to sustain its productivity. Keywords: determination, soil, physical, chemical DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-4-02 Publication date: April 30 th 2020
Highlights
Ethiopia, with a total area of 1.1 million km2, has a population of 72.4 million in 2004 out of which 85% are living rural
Soil fertility maintenance is a major concern in tropical Africa, with the rapid population increase, which has occurred in the past few decades
Farmers use bush fallow, plant residues, household refuse, animal manures and other organic nutrient sources to maintain soil fertility and soil organic matter. This reliance on biological nutrient sources for soil fertility regeneration is adequate with low cropping intensity, it becomes unsustainable with more intensive cropping unless fertilizers are applied (Mulongey and Merck, 1993)
Summary
With a total area of 1.1 million km, has a population of 72.4 million in 2004 out of which 85% are living rural. In light of the above, it is a paramount importance to have an in-depth knowledge on the morphological, physical and chemical characteristics of the soils of Itang special district and its surroundings which are selected as the site of the present study which is expected to provide baseline information for the future research efforts on soil fertility status of the area. Analysis of soil chemical properties The pH of the soil was measured using pH (H2O) or pH (NaF) (Baruah and Barthakur, 1997).Soil organic matter was determined by using titrimetric methods and its contents can be estimated from the organic carbon content by multiplying by 1.724. Total exchangeable acidity was determined by saturating the soil samples with 1M KCl solution and titrated with 0.02M HCl as described by (Rowell, 1994). Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics with appropriate statistical tests, and critical value were used to analyze data and Districts were compared with each other by referring mean critical values for the selected physico-chemical properties of soils
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