Abstract
Soil acidity and poor soil fertility are regarded as crop productivity limiting factors particularly in south western Ethiopia. Acidic soils limit the productive potential of crops because of low availability of basic cations and excess of hydrogen and aluminium in exchangeable forms. At the study area, soil acidity is a well-known problem limiting crop productivity. This, study was conducted to determine the effect of lime and phosphorus fertilizers on soybean yields and to explore the best treatments that can maximize the productivity of soybean. Factorial combinations of five lime levels (0, 1.41, 2.82, 4.23 and 5.64 t ha<sup>-1</sup>) and four P levels (0, 10, 20 and 30kg P ha<sup>-1</sup>) were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data on yield and yield components, were collected and analyzed using SAS version 9.3 software. Treatment means were compared at 5% level of significance using List Significant Different Test. The results revealed that Lime x phosphorus interactions were significant (p<0.01) for some yield and yield components. Findings showed that the application of phosphorus (30Kg/ha) significantly increased the plant height (67.03 cm), number of pods per plant (49), number of seeds per plant (77.67) above ground biomass (6160Kg/ha) and the grain yield (1828.44 Kg/ha). A combined application of phosphorous at 30 kg/ha and lime at 5.64 t ha<sup>-1</sup> had good response in reclaiming the soil and fostering the crop productivity, which is statically at pars with 4.23 lime t/ha and 30 P kg/ha. Study concluded that application of lime with phosphorus proved to be superior with respect to grain yield as well as other yield and growth parameters of soybean. The result of this study verified that application of lime and Phosphorus improved yield and yield related traits of soybean crop. In conclusion further study should be conducted to determine the response of different maturity group of soybean varieties to appropriate rates or combination of lime and phosphorus fertilizers which can maximize the productivity of the crop and reduce soil acidity problem in the study area and finally, the study should be conducted across different acid soil and the agricultural extension suggest the farmers as they apply lime based on the concentration of acid saturation cation until the best combination of lime and phosphorus will be determined.
Highlights
Soil acidity has become a grave challenge to agricultural production around the world and for developing countries in particular
As soils vary from site to site, the amount of lime applied should be based on the concentrations of exchangeable acidity of site
The lime and P rates obtained in this study could serve as a reference to boost soybean production in the study area and areas with similar agoecology having soil acidity problems
Summary
Soil acidity has become a grave challenge to agricultural production around the world and for developing countries in particular. Soil acidification is a complex set of processes resulting into the formation of acidic soils. The accumulation of different anthropogenic and natural processes viz leaching of exchangeable bases, basic cation (calcium, magnesium and potassium) uptake by plants, decomposition of organic materials, application of chemical fertilizers and other farming practices turning soils into acidic [4]. Vegetation and parent material are the soil forming factors likely to upsurge soil acidity in Ethiopia [18]. Area affected by acidity is estimated at 4 billion ha, representing about. Acidic soils are widely distributed in developing countries, where population escalation is gradual and demand for food is growing
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