Assessment of Soil Fertility in Smallholder Potato Farms in Rwanda

Abstract

This study assessed soil fertility in potato farms of Birunga and Buberuka highlands agro-ecological zones (AEZs). It compared nutrients levels (N, P, K, Mg, Ca, Na, S, Mn, Cu, Zn and Fe) and other parameters (pH, organic carbon [OC], cation exchange capacity [CEC], base saturation [BS], bulk density [BD] and texture) of soil samples. ANOVA revealed that pH of soils (5.53-6.50) varied from slightly to moderately acidic, BD fell below optimum for plant growth (Lessthan 1.8gcm-3), texture was sandy loam to sand clay loam. Soil fertility for OC (3.33-5.53%), N (0.15-0.31%) and CEC (10.08-18.60 meq/100g) varied from low to medium; and medium to high for BS (34.78-61.91%); was qualified medium for P (5.75-9.20 ppm), K (0.21-0.54 meq/100g), S (6.46 - 8.15 ppm) and majority of micronutrients. Values from Birunga AEZ were higher than ones from Buberuka AEZ except for BD, CEC, clay, silt, Na and Fe. There were significant differences between farms within locations for all parameters and significant differences between locations for all parameters except Na and Mn.

Soil Function Analysis in Determining the Soil Quality Index of Paddy Fields in Salassae Village, Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

“…An MDS with the right indicators can reduce the need to define many indicators (de Lima et al, 2008) and should adequately represent the complete data set (Sarbu and Pop, 2005). Evaluating the status of paddy soil quality at different management levels will be important to develop sustainable paddy land use management to increase yield production (Sewnet et al, 2020;Turamyenyirijuru et al, 2019).…”