Soil Acidity and its Management Options in Ethiopia: A Review

Abstract

Soil acidity is one of the chemical soil degradation problems which affect soil productivity in the Ethiopian highlands. This paper tries to put together soil acidity concept, causes, extent and management practices. Soil acidity is the problem of agricultural activities in Ethiopian highlands (cultivated lands) and is getting an increase. Farmers require simple and sustainable techniques to amend acid soils and improve yields of crops of their choices. Recommendations on reclamation of acid soils need to change with new developments, such as liming, use of acid-tolerant crop varieties, integrated soil fertility management, and using of organic fertilizers. Liming has played an important role in raising soil pH and enhancing crop productivity. In Ethiopia, the gap between potential and actual yield is very wide because of soil acidity and associated nutrient availability. Acidic soils are not responsive to the application of inorganic fertilizers without amendments-it is simply wastage of resources. Thus, developing effective and efficient acid soil management practices is indispensable for enhancing crop productivity and thereby sustaining yield gains. This review focuses on the causes and managements of soil acidity and its subsequent effect on soil fertility and crop yield. It also provides important information on management options to amend soil acidity and improve the entire fertility of soils, and other organic amendments that can be applied to remedy soil acidity to the desired pH level and improve soil quality. Integrated acid soil management enhances the stability of yields and maximizes nutrient use efficiency.

Coupled Impacts of Soil Acidification and Climate Change on Future Crop Suitability in Ethiopia

“…In a country where less than 5% of the total cultivated land is irrigated [65], any spatial and temporal changes to this balance between temperature and rainfall are likely to have significant impacts on agricultural production. In this study, we confirm the link between rainfall and soil pH in Ethiopia, where soils in the high-rainfall areas are acidic, while those in the low-rainfall areas tend to be alkaline [19,35]. The highly acidic soils are the nitisols, alisols, and fluvisols, which encompass some of the most intensive crop production areas in Ethiopia [66].…”

“…To emulate the impacts of acidification on crop suitability, we ran the suitability model with current soil pH values (baseline, bl), and then, we acidified the soil by reducing the soil pH by 0.5 (bl-0.5), 1.0 (bl-1.0) and 1.5 (bl-1.5) while the future climatic data remained the same. These values were selected to encompass the observed ranges of soil acidification over recent decades, arising from a combination of natural processes and anthropogenic factors, such as the suboptimal utilization of inorganic fertilizers [24,35,60]. By combining the rainfall and temperature data with each soil acidity level, we conducted a crop suitability analysis for future climate scenarios (i.e., 2050).…”

“…As the impacts of climate change become more apparent, certain regions in Ethiopia, previously unsuitable for certain crops, are now becoming more suitable, while other regions that were once ideal for those same crops are now becoming less favorable [29]. Several studies have assessed suitability changes at the watershed [30][31][32] and country [29] scales, while other studies have investigated the dynamics of soil acidity in Ethiopia, considering the causes, the extent of the problem, effects on crop production and potential methods for amelioration [21,[33][34][35]. These studies stress the significance of climate factors and of soil quality in determining crop yields and production potential in Ethiopia.…”

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOIL ACIDITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF BANANA (Musa spp.) IN URABÁ, COLOMBIA

“…On the other hand, Lahav and Israeli (2019) and Soto (2015) observed that K deficiencies in the soil can cause weight loss in banana bunches, specifically affecting the length and diameter of the fingers. For ranges of 6 < pH ≤ 7.3, there is adequate availability of most minerals (Jaramillo, 2014;Golla, 2019) causes, extent and management practices. Soil acidity is the problem of agricultural activities in Ethiopian highlands (cultivated lands, which may indicate good plant nutrition and consequently higher cluster weights.…”

Evaluation of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) for Early Blast Disease (Alternaria solani)

“…The soils in the three experimental environments are slightly acidic. The pH ranges for the soil across three experimental sites will still permissible for plant nutrients uptake [23]. The textural class of the soil at the three environments was sandy loam.…”