The effect of aboveground biomass removal on soil macronutrient over time in Munesa Shashemane, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study aims to compare the proportion of macronutrients in different parts of the aboveground biomass; and to estimate the amount of macronutrient loss from continuous farmlands (mechanized farm and traditional farm) and plantation stands (Cupresus lusitanica and Eucalyptus saligna) through harvesting. From 20 × 20 m 2 sized sample plots, a representative samples were collected from leaf, branch and stem of the plantation stands. Macronutrient analyses were carried out for the samples taken from plantations and maize crops on continuous farmlands. All data collected were subjected to ANOVA using the general linear model of SAS 9.0 at P < 0.05. The results of macronutrient in aboveground biomass of maize in the continuous farm lands shows that, the grain component contained as much as 50% of N and 60% of P compared to leaf and stem. However, a high proportion of K, Ca, and Mg were found in the leaf and stem components. In the case of C. lusitanica, 64.4% N, 70% P, 68.4% K, 65.3% Ca, and 68.75% of Mg was found in the stem compared to the leaf and branch. In the E. saligna, the stem contained 22% N, 30% P, 11.8% K, 26.6% Ca, and 12.5% Mg; with the remaining proportion of each nutrient found in the leaf and branch. Based on the results, much of the nutrients can be removed through the leaf and stem removal in the continuous farmlands. Complete removal of the biomass with little residue returned to the soil, for long periods under plantation land use, may also lead to macronutrient depletion. Therefore, to minimize this effect, the aboveground biomass harvest should focus on grain only on the farmlands, and stem only on the plantations. 57

New insights about cadmium impacts on tomato: Plant acclimation, nutritional changes, fruit quality and yield

“…Therefore, agricultural and health organizations should run field experiments in order to evaluate Cd concentration in crops that are grown in contaminated soils with certain Cd concentrations that are allowed for arable lands. In such experiments, physicochemical and microbiological soil composition, farmland cultivation system, as well as plant species with contrasting root morphology must be considered as all these factors may affect Cd availability, mobility, absorption, and/or accumulation in plants (Castaldi & Melis, 2004;Hirzel, Retamal-Salgado, Walter, & Matus, 2017;Kabata-Pendias, 2011;Kibria et al, 2006;Madalcho, 2016;Manciulea & Ramsey, 2006;Nogueirol et al, 2016;Norton et al, 2017).…”

Effects of habitat gradient and agro-climatic variation on selected soil physical and chemical properties in the Bale Mountains national park, south-eastern Ethiopia

“…At the same time, different landscapes contain various types of land uses along elevation gradient with different plant composition and ecosystem structure [ 6 ]. The more the land is occupied by diverse range of species, the more the soil will become fertile [ 7 ]. Even within the same land use type but different floristic composition may generate different soil properties [ 8 ].…”