Soil fertility assessment and management from the perspective of farmers in four villages of eastern South Africa

Abstract

Understanding farmer perceptions of soil fertility is necessary for the development of appropriate assessment methods for sustainable agro‐ecosystems. This study investigated farmer perceptions of soil fertility and management in four villages of eastern South Africa. A questionnaire was administered to 50 farmers from each village to obtain a general overview of local soil knowledge as well as soil fertility perceptions and assessment. Ten farmers were then chosen from each village for in‐field walks and to gather in‐depth knowledge of local soil fertility concepts, soil‐crop associations and soil management. During in‐field walks, farmers were asked to identify fertile, moderately fertile and low soil fertility plots in their fields from which topsoil samples were taken for laboratory fertility analysis. Local soil fertility descriptors included crop performance and yield, soil texture, stoniness and consistence. Using these descriptors, farmers have developed specific soil use and management practices. There was generally poor agreement between farmer qualitative assessment and measured chemical fertility parameters. However, the study revealed that the generally ignored local qualitative soil knowledge of farmers could be linked to crop performance and potentially supports laboratory soil analysis in terms of its implication for smallholder agriculture in remote areas. The descriptors identified and overall assessment used by farmers in this study reflected considerable soil knowledge employed in daily decision‐making. Action learning and research that links local soil fertility descriptors to soil acidity and specific soil nutrient levels is thus recommended for effective identification of yield‐limiting factors for sustainable crop production in low‐input agriculture.

Soil Quality in Agroecological Production Areas in Southern Brazil: Indicators Based on Farmers' Perception

“…showed management systems adopted by farmers consider both the limitations and potentialities of soil types and direct their agricultural practices towards maintaining and improving soil quality. Similar results were observed by Yageta et al (2019), Buthelezi-Dube et al (2019, and Kuria et al (2018), which mention that sloping land, or with drainage problems, or shallow, or intensively used, should be managed with care or avoided due to the possible impacts on crop production and the environment.…”

“…Farmers' field experience is an entry point to soil quality assessment at the regional level, especially in regions with limited resources (Prudat et al 2018). About that, Buthelezi-Dube et al (2019) revealed that local qualitative soil fertility knowledge of farmers links to crop performance and potentially supports laboratory soil analysis for smallholder agriculture in eastern South Africa. Adeyolanu et al (2018) showed also that farmers' perception of soil quality and soil scientists correlate well, i.e., farmers' perception identified compaction, erosion, low soil fertility as a result of low nutrient availability and retention, termite infestation, poor drainage, flooding, high land-use intensity without proper management and all these have the resultant effect of decreased crop yield or low productivity in Southwestern Nigeria.…”

Application of Three Deep Machine-Learning Algorithms in a Construction Assessment Model of Farmland Quality at the County Scale: Case Study of Xiangzhou, Hubei Province, China

“…Soil pH is one of the most important factors affecting the effectiveness of soil nutrients, which is closely related to fertilizer absorption efficiency, and most crops grow best when soil pH is 6.5-7.5 [66]. Soil available phosphorus and potassium play important roles in plant growth, and are the main fertilizers applied to plants in agricultural production [67,68].…”

Soil salinity: A global threat to sustainable development

“…Soil salinity adversely influences seed germination, agricultural productivity, and soil and water quality, particularly in semiarid and arid regions, bringing about loss of arable areas and land degradation (Balkanlou et al, 2020; Bennett et al, 2019; Buthelezi‐Dube et al, 2020). Soil salinization is the main reason for land degradation and crop yield reduction (Ivushkin et al, 2019; Makinde & Oyelade, 2019).…”