Abstract
Soil quality is a function of inherent and dynamic properties of soil which determines the sustainability of crop and animal production. Based on this fact, the study was aimed to investigate the effects of land use systems and management practices on soil physical and chemical quality indicators of Vertisol at Pawe district, Northwestern Ethiopia. The result revealed that most of the soil physical and chemical properties were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by the land uses and respective management practices. The land uses and respective management practices were selected as the cultivated homestead land (CHL), cultivated research farm (CRF), cultivated fertilized land (CFL) and cultivated unfertilized land( CUL) and native vegetation land (NVL) as a control. The cultivated land with application of farm yard manure (FYM) at the homestead area had higher soil porosity, aggregate size, organic matter (OM), total and mineral nitrogen, available phosphorus (AvP), cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable cations, and micronutrients than the native vegetation land. On the other hand, most of these soil physical and chemical properties found to be declined in the research farm, fertilized and unfertilized cultivated lands. Therefore, integrated use of chemical fertilizer, farmyard manure application and reduced tillage are important soil management practices for sustainable agricultural use of soil in the study area. Key words: Soil quality, vertisol, land use, cultivated land, management practices.
Highlights
Soil quality in agricultural system depends on the inherent and dynamic nature of soil which determines the soils suitability for sustainable crop production
The land uses and respective management practices were selected as the cultivated homestead land (CHL), cultivated research farm (CRF), cultivated fertilized land (CFL) and cultivated unfertilized land( CUL) and native vegetation land (NVL) as a control
The data shows that there were no differences in textural classes among the land use system and corresponding management practices (NVL, CHL, CRF, CFL and CUL)
Summary
Soil quality in agricultural system depends on the inherent and dynamic nature of soil which determines the soils suitability for sustainable crop production. The core constraints in relation to this improper land use management include: depletion of organic matter due to widespread use of biomass as fuel, depletion of macro and micro-nutrients, removal of topsoil by erosion, change of soil physical properties, and increased soil salinity (IFPRI, 2010; Ayele et al, 2013). These will undoubtedly contribute to exacerbate soil quality decline leading to soil degradation, which may lead to complete loss of land values. Research in different parts of Ethiopia (Kiflu and Beyene, 2013; Nega and Heluf, 2013; Muche et al, 2015; Takele et al, 2015; Wasihun et al, 2015; Abegaz et al, 2016; Tesfahunegn, 2016) confirm that inappropriate agricultural land management has resulted in the deterioration of soil quality
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