SCIENCE@home

Changes in the Structure of a Nigerian Soil under Different Land Management Practices

J. Ogunwole,L. Pires,B. M. Shehu

Published 2015 in Revista Brasileira De Ciencia Do Solo

ABSTRACT

Quantification of soil physical quality (SPQ) and pore size distribution (PSD) can assist understanding of how changes in land management practices influence dynamics of soil structure, and this understanding could greatly improve the predictability of soil physical behavior and crop yield. The objectives of this study were to measure the SPQ index under two different land management practices (the continuous arable cropping system and natural bush fallow system), and contrast the effects of these practices on the structure of PSD using soil water retention data. Soil water retention curves obtained from a pressure chamber were fitted to van Genuchten’s equation, setting m (= 1-1/n). Although values for soil bulk density were high, soils under the continuous arable cropping system had good SPQ, and maintained the capacity to support root development. However, soils under the natural bush fallow system had a worse structure than the continuous arable system, with restrictions in available water capacity. These two management systems had different PSDs. Results showed the inferiority of the natural bush fallow system with no traffic restriction (which is the common practice) in relation to the continuous arable cropping system in regard to physical quality and structure.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2015

  • Venue

    Revista Brasileira De Ciencia Do Solo

  • Publication date

    2015-05-01

  • Fields of study

    Agricultural and Food Sciences, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1590/01000683RBCS20140017
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-40 of 40 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-17 of 17 citing papers · Page 1 of 1