Soil Acidity and Its Management Options in Western Ethiopia: Review

Bikila Takala

doi:10.7176/jees/9-10-04

Abstract

Soil acidity has become a serious threat to crop production in most highlands of Ethiopia in general and in the western part of the country in particular. An earlier study estimated that about 41% of arable lands of Ethiopia are affected by soil acidity/Al 3+ toxicity. But recently the status of most soil in western Ethiopia were became acidic though the degree varied from location to location; severely limiting crop production. In western Ethiopia acidification occurs simultaneously with other conditions including eroded topsoil and depleted organic matter, depleted nutrients, and alternating drought stress and high rainfall which is high enough to leach appreciable amounts of exchangeable basic cations. In moisture-stressed areas, acidification can also be caused by continuous application of acid-forming chemical fertilizers. As low pH affects the availability of nutrients particularly that of phosphorus and other macronutrients, correction of the low pH through liming, and/or application of organic materials is critical for sustainable management of these soils. Agricultural liming is proved a good way of correcting soil pH along with supplying calcium to the soil. Another potential organic amendment sources in coffee producing areas of western Ethiopia were coffee pulp and husk, by products from wet and dry coffee processing respectively. These coffee by-products are utilized in other coffee producing countries as soil amendments especially in highly weathered soils. While in Western Ethiopia enormous quantities are either dumped into streams or burnt in big piles, with contributions to environmental hazards. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged to increase productivity of the acidic soils by using lime and organic amendments which is easily available such as composted coffee wastes (coffee husk and pulp). Keywords: Soil acidity, lime, organic amendment, coffee husk and pulp DOI : 10.7176/JEES/9-10-04 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Highlights

Acid soils make up approximately 30% of the world's total land area and more than 50% of the world's potentially arable lands, in the tropics and subtropics (Sumner and Noble, 2003; Kochian et al, 2004 and Kochian et al, 2015)
An inventory was made in 2006 to determine the status of soil acidity of Nitisols occurring in western and central Ethiopia and the results revealed that all samples were acidic though the degree varied from location to location (Abdenna et al, 2007)
The original ecology of the major crop producing growing areas in western Ethiopia is being disturbed with the high intensity of deforestation and land degradation

Summary

Introduction

Acid soils make up approximately 30% of the world's total land area and more than 50% of the world's potentially arable lands, in the tropics and subtropics (Sumner and Noble, 2003; Kochian et al, 2004 and Kochian et al, 2015). Acid soils limit crop yields in many developing countries where food production is critical. The dominance of aluminum on the ion exchange complex in acid soils directly affects plant growth agronomic crops (Kochian et al, 2004). The increasing trend of soil acidity and exchangeable Al3+ in arable and abandoned lands are attributed to intensive cultivation and continuous use of acid forming inorganic fertilizers (Abdenna et al, 2007)

Objectives

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Conclusion