Effect of Soil and Water Conservation Measures in Different Slope Classes on Selected Soil Physicochemical Properties at Addis Zemen District, Ethiopia

Abstract

Soil and water conservation actions on erosion hotspot areas of cultivated lands in the Addis Zemen district have been prioritized for over a decade. However, the impact of these treatments on soil physicochemical parameters in different slope classes was neither examined nor quantified. As a result, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of soil and water conservation strategies on specific selected soil parameters on cultivated lands in varied slope gradients at the Michael Deber micro watershed. The experiment was set up in a split-plot design, with three slope classes as the main plot and four conservation measures as subplots that were reproduced three times each. Each plot had composite soil samples collected from 0-20 cm soil depth using a sampling augur, air dried, and prepared for investigation of soil chemical and physical parameters according to conventional lab protocols. The data was analyzed statistically with R software, and significant treatment means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) at 5%. Clay, MC, pH, CEC, Ex. p, OC, and Av. P were found to be highly substantially (p