Article Information The success of soil management to maintain soil quality depends on an understanding of how soils respond to land use and practices over time. As a result, the important soil quality indicators were investigated under two land use systems to provide base line data for future research in the Fincha'a Valley Sugar Estate (FVSE), within the Nile basin of Western Ethiopia. The evidences provided by this study indicated that land use changes caused changes on soil bulk density (ρb), soil water content, Particle size distribution (sand, silt and clay), soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic matter (SOM), total N, carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) and available phosphorous (Av. P). The study revealed that soil organic matter (SOM), sand content and total N decreased with increase in soil depth. While bulk density (ρb), EC and clay content increased with soil depth. Particle size distribution (sand, silt, and clay) varied with land use, soil depth and soil type. Particle size distribution was changed from Sandy clay to clay due to land use change. Bulk density (ρb), EC, soil organic matter (SOM) and C:N varied significantly (P<0.01, P<0.05), respectively, with land use and soil depth. Land use changes caused bulk density (ρb) to be increased. The study indicated that soil pH was higher in irrigated land than the un irrigated land. This attributed to the transportation of soluble cations from the upstream to the downstream irrigated land by water soil erosion. The different soil fertility management practices also contributed to the variation. On the other hands, soil organic matter (SOM) and total N were lower in irrigated land. Relatively, the lower soil organic matter (SOM) and total N contents in irrigated land attributed to the optimum soil moisture content throughout the year that created favorable environmental condition for SOM decomposition. The study also revealed that soil management groups and soil water holding capacity at field capacity and permanent wilting point were affected by irrigation (land use).It was identified more than 50% of the soil quality indicators increased with depth. This might be the influence of irrigation water in accelerating leaching process. The main degradation process overcome the study area was waterlogging and soil compaction. The irrigation development in the area requires improved drainage network and proper land management. Therefore, reducing the intensive mechanized tillage practices and use of integrated inorganic and organic fertilizers could replenish the degraded soil quality for sustainable agricultural production in the study area. It is therefore, suggested that appropriate and integrated land management options for different land use systems together with identification of soil management groups and water retention characteristic curves are required to sustain agricultural productivity while protecting the environmental degradation.
Article InformationA number of factors like geology, soil, effluents, sewage disposal and other environmental conditions in which the water stays or moves and interacts are among the factors that affect the quality of irrigation water. This study was conducted to determine t he quality and suitability of different water sources for irrigation purpose in Fincha'a Valley Sugar Estate (FVSE), within the Nile Basin of Western Ethiopia. A total of 80 water samples were collected from different sources viz., reservoir, rivers, diversion weir, canals, pump stations, drains, and groundwater of the study area. Physico-chemical properties including electrical conductivity (EC), hydrogen ion concentration (pH), total dissolved solids (TDS), major cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) and anions (HCO3 and Cl) were analyzed in the laboratory and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and permeability Index (PI) were calculated from the major cations and anions studied for the criteria of irrigation water quality and suitability for irrigation. The study revealed that the values of EC, pH and TDS, and the amount of Cl -, HCO3, Na + , K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ varied from 100 to 730 μS cm -1 , 6.6 to 7.3, 64 to 467.20 mg l -1 ,and 2.8 to 6.8, 2.04 to 5.6,3.8 to 7.8, 0.05 to 0.26, 8.4 to 19.9, 1.4 to 3.7 mmol l -1 and SAR, RSC, the PI values varied from 0.4 to 3. 9, -13 to -6.4 and 26.34 to 49. 9 %, respectively. The cationic and anionic constituents and SAR values of the samples increased from the upstream to the downstream. This is clear indication of the impacts of agricultural activities of the upstream and long-term irrigation in the downstream on the quality and suitability of water for irrigation purpose. If this trend continues, the gate for secondary salinization becomes significant. This necessitates the undertaking of certain management measures in the area for sustainability and productivity of the irrigation system in the FVSE.
Good water management and improved drainage can minimize yield reductions caused by waterlogging and thus increase profitability. Waterlogging became a very severe problem in some of the irrigated fields of Fincha'a Sugar Estate in the Blue Ni Basin of western Ethiopia. As a result many productive agricultural lands were abandoned. A measurement of geoelectrical resistivity at the selected irrigated fields by using Schlumberger array with the space of potential and current electrode was found to be 2 m. The positions of centre sounding measurements to be investigated were at different points along the traverse line (subsurface area). The objective of this study was to identify the depth of the groundwater table in relation to subsurface lithology. The shallow ground water was identified at the depth of 1.5, 2.06, 3.18 and 2.49 m with resistivity values of 3.76, 5.42, 49.3, and 29.4 Ω (VES 2), (VES 3) and (VES 4) respectively. While the deep ground water table confined on the course range from the depth of 3.96 to 11.6 m with the resistivity value of 3.96 to 11.6 Ω-m.The variation of resistivity values from each position of ground water shows the variation of variation of crack dimension and variation of medium type. It was identified that the selected irrigated fields are under severe to critically waterlogged conditions. Deeper regolith (3.18 below the water table, due to low salinities in the groundwater and coarser textures.
The problem of soil erosion is one of the major environmental problems contributing to food insecurity. It needs to attention to carried out conservation measures to reduce the problem of soil erosion and to improve the food insecurity. However, the impact of soil and water conservation measures on soil quality attributes has not been well investigated in the Bako Tibe district, Western Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the impact of soil and water conservation measures on selected soil quality attributes in the study area. Soil samples were taken from cultivated land (teff and maize) and grazing land from conserved and unconserved sites at the depth of 0-20 cm from top and bottom slope positions. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SAS version 9.2 following GLM procedure. The results of the study revealed that soil quality attributes, such as soil bulk density, porosity and soil pH were affected by soil and water conservation practices and slope gradients and results were statistically significant (p < 0.05). With the exception of soil pH, all studied chemical attributes such as Soil Organic Matter, Total Nitrogen, Available Phosphorus, Exchangeable Bases such as K + , Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ and CEC of the soil under the conserved and un conserved sites were not affected by SWC practices and slope positions.
Background: Land-use change is one of the major factors affecting soil degradation. The pressures of the human population on land resources have increased land-use change with more negative effects on soil carbon storage and soil properties. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of land-use changes on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and selected soil physicochemical properties in Gobu Sayyo, Western Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from three adjacent land uses i.e., forest land, grazing land, and cultivated lands at 0-20cm and 20cm-40cm soil depths. A total of 36 composite soil samples were collected and the major soil properties and SOC storage of the area were analyzed and computed based on their standard procedures.Results: Soil organic carbon stock was significantly (p<0.05) higher (43.09-81.86 tone ha-1) in forest land and was significantly lower (38.08-43.09 tone ha-1) in cultivated land at the of depth of 0-20cm. SOC stock decreased with dept in all land uses. Changes in land use and soil depth affected the physical and chemical properties of soil. The physical soil property such as bulk density (BD) was higher (1.62 gcm-3) in the cultivated land whereas, the lowest (1.08 gcm-3) was recorded in the forest at 0-20cm depth. Comparatively the moisture content was higher (25.89%) under forest land at the depth of 20-40cm and was lower (11.22%) under cultivated lands. The chemical soil properties like exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ were higher in forest lands. Organic carbon, avP, TN, ex.Ca2+, ex.Mg2+, ex.K+, and CEC were lower under cultivated lands. pH increased with depth and was higher under forest land and lower under cultivated land. Soils of the study area are in general acidic to slightly acid with pH value ranging from 4-6-6.02. The pH, SOC, TN, av. Phosphorus and CEC were higher under forest land as compared to cultivated and grazing lands. Conclusion: It can be concluded that soil organic carbon stocks, the physical and chemical properties were affected by land-use change and depth. Therefore, reducing the intensity of cultivation, adopting integrated soil fertility management, and maintaining forest land must be practiced to save the soil of the area from degradation.
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