Soil fertility status under smallholder farmers fields in malawi
| Autor: | Joyce Njoloma, Patson Cleopus Nalivata, B. I. Nyoka, Bruce Geoffrey Sosola, Weldesemayat Gudeta Sileshi |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Soil test Agroforestry Soil organic matter 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences complex mixtures 01 natural sciences Soil management Agronomy Soil pH Soil water 040103 agronomy & agriculture Land degradation 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Environmental science Soil fertility General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Water content 010606 plant biology & botany |
| Zdroj: | African Journal of Agricultural Research. 11:1679-1687 |
| ISSN: | 1991-637X |
| DOI: | 10.5897/ajar2015.10018 |
| Popis: | Land degradation continues to contribute to the declining soil fertility especially in the smallholder farms. Thus, soil fertility depletion in the smallholder farms will continue to be the biophysical root cause for reduced food production if farmers do not implement best agricultural practices. It is expected that when farmers understand the current soil fertility status on their farms, they would make informed decisions considering appropriate soil fertility restoration and other conservation technologies. Soil fertility status of selected sites was determined in Northern, Central and Southern regions of Malawi. The overall objective of the study was to document current soil fertility status in smallholder farmers’ fields. And that specifically, this study was meant to provide a basis for the promotion of soil fertility restoration interventions in Malawi. A total of 33 participating farmers’ fields were selected for soil sampling and from each site soil samples were collected at two depths, 0 to 20 cm and 20 to 50 cm, using an auger. Soil chemical and physical analysis was carried out on all the sampled soils. Statistical analysis on the data was done using Genstat 14.1. The statistical analysis revealed that soils in all the selected sites are slightly acidic with most of the sites having pH |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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