Characterization and classification of salt affected soils and irrigation water in Tendaho sugarcane production farm, North-Eastern Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Abstract

Considerable area of land is becoming unproductive every year because of salinity and sodicity in lowlands of Ethiopia. For sound land use and irrigation water management, it is a paramount important to know the chemical composition of soils and irrigation water. Therefore, the study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical properties of soils and irrigation water of Tendaho sugarcane production farm, located in northeastern rift valley of Ethiopia. Depth wise soil samples from 4 different locations and 1 irrigation water sample from 2 sub-samples (from delivery head and the influent river) were collected. The result of the particle size analysis indicates that majority of the soils were heavily textured. The pH of the soil in all parts of the study area ranged from 7.8 to 8.6. Electrical conductivity readings of most of the studied soil profiles were high. Exchangeable sodium percentage values showed actual sodium toxicity problem (ESP>15) in the first profile and potential sodium toxicity (ESP>1) in the remaining profiles. On the other hand, the irrigation water has a low sodicity hazard; however, pH (7.65) and EC (0.654 dS/m) values clearly indicated that it is moderately alkaline and saline. Hence, coupled with water and soil analysis results, there will be a potential danger of sodicity and actual salinity development in the intended irrigation scheme. Thus, selection of crop type and proper irrigation methods should be designed for sustainability of soil productivity in the study area.

Assessment and Characterization of Agricultural Salt-Affected Soils around Abaya and Chamo Lakes, South Ethiopia Rift Valley

“…Tis very high rating of CEC in the study area soils could be due to the presence of more weatherable primary minerals as a plant nutrient reserve. Tus, such soils are considered capable of good production if other factors are favorable [53]. Similarly, soil's total nutrient fxing capacity is well expressed by its cation exchange capacity, and values over 10 cmol•kg −1 are considered satisfactory for most crops [54].…”

“…Tough maybe even within specifc environments, there seems to be no general agreement on ratings of N values measured by the same method [59], and ratings of total nitrogen are given as a very general reference to total N content for Ethiopian soils [25]. In contrast, [53] reported a strong correlation between total N and organic carbon, stating that the variation in total nitrogen content is related to the variation in organic carbon in salt-afected soils of the North-Eastern Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Most pits had 2-3.8% CaCO 3 content throughout the soil depth, rated low CaCO 3 content (Table 4), and physically less visible efervescences of calcaric soil material.…”

The Impacts of Improving Water Management of Smallholder Agriculture in Ethiopia

“…For example, the Awash basin is considered to be an area where salinity is a serious problem in its countless large and mediumsized irrigation fields, including the Amibara irrigation project in Central Awash, Metahara sugar cane plantations in Upper Awash and Tendaho sugar cane plantations in the district of Dubti (Debele and Abdulahi, 2009; Gebrehiwot, 2018). A significant share of the central and lower portions of the catchments are also salty or sodic or possibly exposed to these important problems (Asmamaw et al, 2018).…”

“…World Bank figures show that in 2009, Ethiopia had 1,502 m 3 of "renewable internal water resources" obtainable per person as compared, for example, to 1,430 m 3 in Turkey, 1,306 m 3 in Germany, 1,086 m 3 in Denmark, 714 m 3 in Bangladesh, 322 m 3 in Pakistan, 100 m 3 in Israel and just 22 m 3 in Egypt. The country has 12 main river basins and 12 large lakes, and the total yearly surface runoff is estimated at 122 billion m 3 (Evans, 2012). Although Ethiopia earned the term "water tower of Eastern Africa", the population remains without proper water infrastructure, and smallholder agriculture's poverty lessening results have been unsatisfactory (Stokes et al, 2010).…”