Application of the Concept of Minimum Data Sets to Soil Quality Assessment for Crop Production in Southwestern Nigeria
Journal Title: International Journal of Plant & Soil Science - Year 2017, Vol 14, Issue 4
Abstract
Indicators for soil quality assessment are many; some major and some minor. The more the indicators, the more reliable the assessment, but the more costly it becomes. Hence the need for selection of the most relevant indicators as minimum data set (MDS). The study examined the application of the concept of MDS to soil quality assessment for crop production under tree and arable land use in three states (Oyo, Osun and Ekiti) in southwestern Nigeria. Twelve (12) soil quality indicators were selected for the assessment. The indicators were reduced to the bearable minimum using the land requirement for each crop and product-moment correlation. Soil quality assessment was carried out on the land use types using the initial 12 indicators and the MDS. The relationship between soil quality indices of the two (with minimum vs with 12 indicators) assessments was established using correlation analysis at α0.05. Active carbon, potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), pH, CEC, effective soil depth, aggregate stability and bulk density qualified as MDS for soil quality assessment of tree crops while active carbon, PMN, pH, CEC, aggregate stability, available phosphorus and bulk density qualified for arable crops. Under tree crops, soil quality indices with 12 indicators and MDS ranged from 63– 87% and 61–86%; and 60–72% and 61–71% under arable crops. Relationship between indices of the two sets of indicators shows high positive correlation (r = 0.83 and 0.74 for tree and arable crops respectively). With the concept of MDS in place, soil quality assessment will be less costly and therefore more affordable for farmers.
Authors and Affiliations
O. D. Adeyolanu
Keywords
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- EP ID EP316527
- DOI 10.9734/IJPSS/2017/31890
- Views 96
- Downloads 0
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