| Chemical quality indicators of an entisol under different tillage practices in Maiduguri, Nigeria
1Sauwa MM, 2Chiroma AM, 2Alhassan AB, 3*Yakubu M, 1 Noma SS
1Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
2Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri.
3Department of Crop Production, IBB University, Lapai, Niger State.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected]
Received 16 May, 2012; Accepted 04 July, 2012
The impact of tillage on soil quality indicators is useful in the assessment of dynamic soil properties and processes that are useful for evaluating the sustainability of soil and crop management practices. The influence of three tillage systems: no-tillage (NT), reduce tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) on chemical quality indicators after about 12 years of management was evaluated on an Entisol in Maiduguri, north eastern Nigeria. Soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic carbon (OC), total N, available P and exchangeable Na, K, Ca and Mg were determined on soil samples collected at depth of 0-15 and 15-30 cm. An accumulation of soil OC occurred primarily in the top (0-15 cm) soil layer with values of 0.296, 0.262 and 0.196 % for NT, RT and CT treatments respectively. Total N, C:N ratio, Mg, K, CEC, and ESP were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) influenced by tillage practices particularly at surface (0-15 cm) soil layer. The NT treatment recorded highest values of most chemical parameters (including OC, CEC, TN, Mg and K) followed by the RT treatment, while the CT treatment recorded the least. Soil salinity (EC) and sodicity (SAR) attributes, soil pH and other chemical properties of the soil (including Ca, Na, EXA and BS) were not affected by tillage methods. From the study it could be concluded that, adoption of conservation tillage systems (NT and RT) promotes agricultural sustainability and environmental quality for the soil studied compared to the conventional system (CT).
Keywords: Soil quality, conservation tillage, conventional system, chemical quality indicators, sustainable agriculture. |