Changes in Soil Properties Attributable to Land-Use Variation in Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Evidence on the land-use system for soil properties is essential for sustainable soil management. Hence, this research was investigated to exploit the status of soil properties in Sayo District, southwestern Ethiopia. For this investigation, soil was sampled at two depths from shrub, crop (cultivated), pasture (graz- ing) and forest lands. The investigation revealed that land-use had significant effect on soil properties. The maximum values of sand particle in cultivated, silt in forest and clay in shrub land were observed. Bulk density of the soils under the different land-use was ranged from 1.10–1.37 g cm–3 . The higher (5.00) and lower (4.68) soil pH were observed in cultivated and shrub land, respectively. The higher values of electrical conductivity (0.28 dS/m) in the forest and lower (0.01 dS/m) in shrub land were measured, whereas soil organic matter was ranged between 3.15% in grazing land to 5.02% in forest land. The higher value of C:N (11.50) were observed in forest and lower (10.00) in cultivated land. Available P was ranged from 1.26 to 5.37 ppm which implies that high deficiency of phosphorus. The entire exchangeable base except Na and CEC values were found high to very high in studied lands. Generally, the adverse influence of land variation on soil properties was remarkable. The mean values of most of the soil properties were lower in cultivated and grazing lands compared to the rest land use. Therefore, the proper soil management practices are important for the inves- tigated district to enhance crop productivity and sustainable utilization of soil resources.