Selected physical and chemical properties of soil under different agricultural land-use types in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined changes in soil properties under different types of agricultural land-use. This was done with a view to extending knowledge on the nature of soil properties under long-term land-use practices. The study investigated six types of land-use: paddock, continuously cropped, secondary forest, teak, oil palm, and cacao plantations. Soil strength and saturated hydraulic conductivity were determined in-situ at two soil depths (0–15 and 15–30 cm) across the land-use types. Soil samples were collected to determine particle size distribution, bulk density, aggregate stability, pH, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus. The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test was used to separate significant means at p ≤ 0.05. The results showed that land-use types such as forest, cacao and continuously cropped had higher saturated hydraulic conductivity, while soil bulk density was highest under continuously cropped land-use type (1.55 g cm −3 ). The soil aggregates of forest, teak, and oil palm land-use types were more stable, but soil under oil palm land-use had the highest soil strength (5.65 kg m −2 ). Soil pH across the land-use types was slightly acidic to strongly acidic, while soil organic carbon was least in continuously cropped land (3.87 g kg −1 ). The total nitrogen content of soil across the land-use types was high, but the available phosphorus was low. Paddock, cacao, and continuously cropped land-use types had higher cation exchange capacity. The results implied that continuous cultivation led to depletion in soil physical and chemical properties, whereas, afforestation and cultivation of tree crops conserved soil properties better. Therefore, the establishment of tree crop plantations and conservative soil management practices such as manuring, mulching, liming, and conservation tillage were suggested to prevent agricultural lands from degradation in areas with soils under similar conditions.

Influence of arboreal components on the physical-chemical characteristics of the soil under four silvopastoral systems in northeastern Peru

“…(2001) , who proved that phosphorus increases after establishing a silvopastoral arrangement with alder. These results were similar to those reported by Akinde et al. (2020) , who evaluated the phosphorus content for six types of agricultural land uses in Nigeria.…”

“…Alder in silvopastoral systems contributes to the improvement of phosphorus contents, as mentioned by Navia et al (2001), who proved that phosphorus increases after establishing a silvopastoral arrangement with alder. These results were similar to those reported by Akinde et al (2020), who evaluated the phosphorus content for six types of agricultural land uses in Nigeria. These results may also be due to the decrease in organic matter and organic phosphates, since the residues of leaves and decomposing material are found in the surface layer of the soil (Bailon, 2018).…”

“…In addition, as the sampling depth increased, the pH levels increased from 4.75 AE 0.84 to 4.99 AE 0.99. Akinde et al (2020) observed similar pH values for continuously cultivated soils in Nigeria, as they recorded pH values of 4.71 at a depth of 0-15 cm and 4.87 at a depth of 15-30 cm. On the other hand, the results of the present study were similar to those reported in Colombia from farms planted with Brachiaria humidicola associated with 3 tree species: Anadenanthera peregrina, Pithecellobium guachapele and Acacia mangium, recording acidic pH values ranging from 4.7 to 5.2 (P aez et al, 2014).…”

Modeling the effects of farming management practices on soil organic carbon stock under two tillage practices in a semi-arid region, Morocco

“…(2017) reported that conservation practices have the ability to increase soil fertility through increased SOC accumulation and can act as a mitigating mechanism to climate change. Previous study carried out in Nigeria ( Akinde et al., 2020 ) indicated that the establishment of conservative soil management practices such as manuring, mulching, and conservation tillage were suggested to prevent agricultural lands from degradation by improving SOC. Our results are in line with other studies performed under semi-arid conditions ( Sherrod et al., 2003 ; Engel et al., 2017 ; Sainju et al., 2017 ).…”

Genotype × environment interaction and adaptation of cowpea genotypes across six planting seasons

“…The region has a mean annual rainfall ranging between 800 mm and 1, 500 mm with about 85% of the rains falling from June to September. The average air temperature of the location is 24.7°C, and the type of soil is sandy loam ultisol (Salami and Sangoyomi, 2013;Oladele et al, 2019;Akinde et al, 2020). Besides, the initial physico-chemical properties of the experimental site were done in 2014 according to procedures cited in Oladele et al (2019;.…”