Abstract
The study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife which approximately lies on latitude 7° 28E¹N and longitude 4° 33E¹ E with an altitude of about 244 m above the sea level. Different agricultural land uses examined were: Secondary forest, planted fallow with legumes, Bush fallow (Cromolaena odoratum), Continuous cassava/cowpea plot (Manihot esculenta-Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp), Continuous maize/soybean plot (Zea mays-Glycine max), and Tree crop (Theobroma cacao). Selected soil physical properties assessed were: Aggregate stability, Bulk density, Porosity, and Gravel content. Composite soil samples were taken from each of the investigated plot. The samples were sub-sampled for aggregate stability test while the other samples were air dried, crushed and passed through 2 mm sieve for other laboratory analysis. The mean bulk density of Cassava/Cowpea plot, Maize/Soybean plot, Bush fallow plot and Secondary forest were higher and significantly different from Planted legume and Tree crop. Soil compaction and low level of organic matter were the major causes of soil degradation in continuous arable crop production that practices conventional tillage system going by history. It is suggested that a rotational system involving one year of conventional tillage following every three years of no-tillage under continuous Cassava/cowpea and Maize/soybean plots might cause less soil deterioration, hence higher grain yield. Key words: Landuse, secondary forest, compaction, porosity, farming system.
Highlights
Land and water scarcity are major constraints to food production in tropical countries, these are required for meeting the quantitative and qualitative shifts of the world’s demand for food in the mid-twenty-first century.Whereas land and water availability are constrained on a global scale, there are important regional and cropspecific differences that needs to be understood, quantified and managed
The gravel content of the top soil was significantly higher in continuous arable crop; organic matter content and aggregate stability were significantly lower when compared with other agricultural land uses
Organic matter content decreased with increase in soil depth for all the agricultural land uses considered
Summary
Land and water scarcity are major constraints to food production in tropical countries, these are required for meeting the quantitative and qualitative shifts of the world’s demand for food in the mid-twenty-first century. Among the importance physical properties of soil are those which enable the soil to receive, hold and transmit water for crop use. The changes in soil properties that decrease its productivity for crop plant may follow from three processes, namely, cropping, erosion and leaching (Sanchez, 1940). They may adversely affect the physical condition or chemical composition of the soil or both. (1981) noted that gravely and sandy soils, which have large pores, allow free movement of water without retaining much for plant use. Due to the lack of knowledge about the effects of different agricultural land uses on soil physical properties under rainforest agroecology, this necessitated the purpose of this research work
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