Soil nutrient status and productivity potentials of lithosols in Mubi Area, Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Continuous and coherent hard rock between 10.0 and 50.0cm of topsoil can considerably impede crop production. A field survey was conducted in 2006 to assess the physico-chemical properties, Fa and Pp of lithosols from six locations (Muvur, Digil, Vimtim, Gella, Lamorde, and Madanya) in Mubi area, Northeast Nigeria. Soils were sampled at 0-20, 20-50, and 50-100 cm depths in each of the six locations for the analyses of particle size distribution, bulk density, water holding capacity, pH, EC, OC, %N, avail P, K, CEC, TEB and land qualities including Fi and Pi indices. The soils were generally loam textured with low SOM levels, slightly acidic reactions and low soil nutrient amounts. The Fa index for the lithosols rated low (31.80 at Muvur and Vimtim) to good (51.5 at Digil) for rain-fed agriculture and excellent for orchard in all locations. The Pf index was rated good (55.4 at Gella) to excellent (90.50 at Madanya) for rainfed agriculture and excellent for orchard in all locations. The coefficient of improvement (Ci) for fertility index (Fi) for the soils showed that rain-fed agriculture can be improved by 1.54-2.54 times while orchard by 1.11 times only. The Fa index rated extremely low (2.31 at Gella) to moderate (51.12 at Vimtim) for rain-fed agriculture and low (11.25 at Gella) to moderate (58.32 at Madanya) for orchard. Accordingly, the soils can be classified varying from PII(S2) (good or moderate at Vimtim) to PV(N2) (extremely low or not suitable at Gella) for rain-fed agriculture and from PII(S2) (good or moderate at Madanya) to PIV(N 1) (low or presently not suitable at Gella) for orchard. The Pp index was rated low to excellent for rain-fed agriculture and average to excellent for orchard. Accordingly, the soils can be classified as varying from excellent (PI(S 1)) to low (PIV(N1)) for rain-fed agriculture and from excellent (PI(S1)) to average (PIII(S3)) for orchard. The Pp coefficient revealed that rain-fed agriculture can be improved by 2-6 times and orchard by only two-folds. In conclusion, the lithosols studied had medium natural Fa and Pp with land slope, poor drainage, stoniness (gravel), and low nutrient levels as limitations. The Fa and Pp of these lithosols for rain-fed agriculture and orchard can be improved from moderate to high, with appropriate soil fertilization and conservation measures.

Characterization and Erodibility Evaluation of Soils of Wukari Metropolis Northeast Nigeria

“…Organic matter had high variation (≥40.08 % ≤ 83.14 %) in pedons 2 and 3 and low variation (13.70 %) in pedon 1. However, organic matter content was high compared to the finding of Tekwa et al (2011) in soils of Northern, Nigeria. Organic matter improves the soil structure thereby reducing the erodi-bility rate of the soil.…”

“…Total nitrogen and available phosphorus had high variation (≥40.08 % ≤ 83.14 %) in all the pedons except in pedon 3 where total nitrogen had low variation (5.89 %). The total nitrogen was high while the available phosphorus was low compared to the find-ing of Tekwa et al (2011) and Musa and Gililanbe (2017) in soils of Northeast Nigeria. The Table 2 showed that potassium was predominant over other cations in pedons 1 and 2 while Magnesium was predominant in pedon 3.…”

OPTIMIZING NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER WITH AND WITHOUT COW DUNG ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF MAIZE (Zea mays L) IN DIGIL-MUBI, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

“…Generally the P H range is between 5.09-5.96 with a mean of 5.36, indicating that the soil was slightly acidic (Tekwa et al, 2011). The soil OM generally varies in depletion with soil depths as observed by Brady and Weil, 2002.…”

The potential of fermented cottonseed oil-mill effluent as inexpensive biofertilizers and its agronomic evaluation on medium-textured tropical soil

“…Organic matter concentration, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, total exchangeable bases and acidity, and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) all indicated low values in this soil. For instance, both available nitrogen and available phosphorus were below their critical ranges of values of 1.50-2.00 and 10-16 mg kg -1 , respectively for arable crop production in tropical soils (Sobulo and Osiname 1981;Adeoye and Agboola 1985). Similarly, the soil was deficient of exchangeable potassium, as this parameter was clearly below the critical range of values of 63-99 mg kg -1 (Akinrinde and Obigbesan 2000).…”