Agricultural land use and soil degradation in a part of kwara state, Nigeria

Summary

Because of the alarming rate of increase in population all over tropical Africa, and the consequent need to grow more food, several writers have suggested the practice of continuous or permanent cultivation in place of the traditional bush fallowing system. This suggestion has been made without recognising the natural vulnerability of tropical soils and the associated problems of actual soil degradation, especially in situations where fertilizer inputs are limited. This study examines the effects of different land use practices on actual soil degradation in a part of Kwara State, Nigeria. This involves comparing the physical and chemical properties of the soils in areas under continuous cultivation, fallow and forests, and using the technique of factor analysis to isolate indices which best describe these phenomena. The results show that the main effects of continuous cultivation in the area examined were to increase the acidity of the soil, that soil organic matter content was likely to double after 10 years of fallow conditions, and that continuous cultivation was capable of reducing the cation-exchange capacity of soils by at least one-third.

In general, the soils of the area of study display marked variability, especially with respect to their chemical properties. This is mainly due to variations in soil organic matter content, which in itself is due to differences in agricultural land use practices. Factor analysis of the soil properties generated four main indices of actual soil degradation, of which organic matter is the most important. Some implications of the results are examined, particularly in relation to generating an awareness of actual soil degradation and land use planning.