Assessment of Nutrient Availability in Soil Textural Constituent as Influenced by Land Use

Abstract

Investigating the nutrient composition in soil textural constituent as influenced by land use is a necessity towards a good soil conservative and management measure. In view of this, a laboratory experiment was conducted; soil samples were collected from different locations within and outside the Federal University of Technology, Akure and analyzed for basic chemical elements. The soil sampling was based on land use and six different soil samples were collected at a depth of 0-15cm. These samples included bare soil (BS), waterlogged soil (WS), maize cultivated soil (MS), cassava cultivated soil (CS), cassava-maize intercrop (CM), and mixed cropping of cassava, maize and cowpea (MC). The waterlogged soil was cultivated to rice while the bare soil was not cultivated. The soil samples were air-dried and crushed after which fractionation was carried out using a three-layer sieve to separate the soil particles into different size of 2mm to 0.5mm (Sand), 0.5mm-0.05mm (Silt) and <0.002mm (Clay). Each separate was considered as a treatment and analyzed for basic chemical elements. The textural analysis was carried out using the hydrometer method while soil pH was determined using a pH meter. Other parameters determined included organic carbon, Total Nitrogen, Available Phosphorus and Exchangeable cations. The finding revealed that the clay fraction contains the highest organic carbon as well as chemical elements while the sand separates had the lowest values. It was concluded that land use has an effect on the retention of nutrients in the soil as a whole. Land use system that causes heavy disturbance to the soil can lead to the reduction of clay and silt content of the soil which in turn can lead to loss of a large amount of soil organic carbon as well as chemical elements in the soil.