Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES Micronutrient Status of Vertisols and Cambisols in two Agro - ecological zones of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. A Thesis Submitted to School of Graduate Studies Addis Ababa University In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology (Botanical Sciences). Tsegay Berhane June 2003. Addis Ababa University School of Gradate Studies Title of the Thesis: - Micronutrient Status of Vertisols and Cambisols in two Agro - ecological zones of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. By Tsegay Berhane Department of Biology, Faculty of Science 1l.ddis 1l.baba University Approved by the Examining Board Name Signature Chairman, Department Graduate Committee Research Advisor Examiner Examiner ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES Micronutrient Status of Vertisols and Cambisols in two Agro - ecological zones of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. A Thesis Submitted to School of Graduate Studies Addis Ababa University In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology (Botanical Sciences). Tsegay Berhane June 2003. Acknowledgement I am very much indebted to my research advisor Dr. Fisseha Itanna for his unreserved and continued guidance and support for the completion of this study. Moreover, I would like to thank him once again for his critical and valuable suggestions from the beginning of the research proposal through fieldwork and write up. Special appreciation goes to my co- advisor Dr. Mitiku Haile for his professional guidance during the fieldwork of this thesis. Grateful thanks and appreciation goes to Dr. Fassil Kebede and Dr.Jan Nyssen for their assistance and support during the fieldwork. I am deeply indebted to technicians of the soils laboratory of the Department of Land Resource Management and Environmental protection, Mekelle University and National Soil Laboratory, for soil analyses. My appreciation also goes to the Biology Department of Addis Ababa University for its financial assistance for the study. Grateful thanks and appreciation go to my workmates: Girmay G/medhin, Tekle Shifraw, Werede Gessessie and Hubur Gebrekidane for their encouragement. Heartfelt thanks go to W/ro Genet Mergia for support in writing this thesis. Finally but not the least I am grateful to my wife Hintsa Haddis, my mother and mother - in-low for their encouragement during the period I was away for field work, course work and write up of this thesis. Without their moral supports and encouragement, I would not have been able to complete this study. Table of Contents Pages Acknowledgement i List of Tables v List of Appendix Tables vi List of Figures vii Abstract x 1. Introduction 1 2. Objectives of the Study 6 2.1. General 6 2.2. Specific 6 3. Literature review 7 3.1. Source of micronutrients 7 3.2. Solubility and availability of micronutrients 8 3.3. Micronutrients in soils and plants 9 3.3.1. Iron (Fe) 9 3.3.2. Copper (Cu ) 10 3.3.3. Zinc (Zn) 10 3.3.4. Manganese (Mn) 11 3.4. Micronubient interaction 11 3.5. Factors affecting the availability of micronutrient 12 3.6. Micronutrient soil test 13 3.7. Leaf analysis for micronutrients 14 ii 3.8. Micronutrient status of Ethiopian soils 14 4. Material and Methods 16 4.1. Description of the Study Sites 16 4. 1.1. General 16 4.1.2. Adigudom 16 4.1.3. Dogua Tembien 20 4.2. Preparation and Laboratory analysis of Soil samples. 23 4.2.1. Physical analysis 23 4.2.1.1. Bulk Density 23 4.2.1.2. Texture and Soil moisture 24 4.2.2. Chemical analysis 24 4.2.2.1. % organic matter and organic carbon 24 4.2.2.2. Total Nitrogen 24 4.2.2.3. Available Phosphorous and Carbonate 25 4.2.2.4. Exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, Na and K) 25 4.2.2.5. Available micronutrients (Fe, Mn ,Zn, and Cu) 26 4.3. Green house pot experiments 26 4.4. Green house pot experiments operation 27 4.5. Plant sample preparation for chemical analyis 27 4.6. Ashing and determination of plant Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu. 28 5. Results 29 5.1. Soil analysis 29 5.2. Foliar analysis 38 iii 6. General discussion 44 6.1. Soil Reaction 44 6.2. Electrical conductivity 44 6.3. Available phosphorus 45 6.4. Total Nitrogen 45 6.5. Soil organic matter 45 6.6. Soil parameters and micronutrient interaction 46 6.6.1. Texture and micronutrients 46 6.6.2. pH and micronutrients 46 6.6.3. Available phosphorus and micronutrients 47 6.6.4. Exchangeable bases, CEC, base saturation and micronutrients. 47 6.6.5. % OC, % TN and micronutrients. 48 6.7. Causes of Zinc defiCiency at Adigudom and Dogua Tembien 48 7. Conclusion and Recommendation 50 7.1. Conclusion 50 7.2. Recommendation 51 8. Reference 52 9. Appendix 60 iv List of Tables Page Table 1:- DTPA extractable micronutrients distribution of Dogua Tembien soil Catena. 34 Table 2:- DTPA extractable micronutrient distribution of Adigudom Soil Catena. 34 Table 3:- Chi- square test statistics comparing Dogua Tembien and Adigudom. 36 Table 4:- Analysis of Variance between and within soil types of each region 37 Table 5:- Correlation analysis showing relationship between plant and soil values. 38 v List of Appendix tables Page Table Ai: - Physical and Chemical Soil analysis of Dogua Tembien (Vertisol). 66 Table A2: - Physical and Chemical soil analysis of Dogua Tembien (Cambisol). 66 Table A3:- Physical and Chemical soil analysis of Adigudom (Vertisol). 66 Table A4:- Physical and Chemical soil analysis of Adigudom (Cambisol). 66 Table A5 (a):- Means 66 Table A5 (b):- Means 67 Table A5 (c ):- Means 67 Table A5 (d) :- Means 67 Table A6: - Kruskal-Wallis Test for soil physical and chemical property for profIle pits of Dogua Tembien and Adigudom. 68 Table A7: - Test of Homogeneity of variance of soil Physical and Chemical property of profile soil. 69 vi Table A8: - Speannan's Rho (Non Parametric) correlation between Soil Parameters 70 Table A9: - Plant versus surfaces soil micronutrients. 72 Table AIO: - Mean of Plant extractable micronutrient. 72 Table All: - Broad rating of soil parameter. 73 Table A12:- Indicative rating for foliar analysis of micronutrients in ppm. 74 Table A13:- Result sheet for surface soils analysis (Oogua Tembien and Adigudom). 75 vii List of Figures Page Figure 1:- Yearly rainfall at Adigudom. 18 Figure 2:- Schematic representation of the soil catena at Adigudom 19 Figure 3:- Yearly rainfall at Hagerse1am. 21 Figure 4:- Schematic representation of the soil catena in kebele Selam Farmers' Association. 22 Figure 5:- Map of Dogua Tembien and Adigudom district in Tigray Region. 22 Figure 6:- Dendrogram using average linkage (between soil types) 35 Figure 7(a):- Regression analysis showing relationship between plant - Fe and soil-Fe values. 39 Figure 7(b):- Regression analysis showing relationship between plant - Mn and soil-Mn values. 40 Figure 7(c):- Regression analysis showing relationship between plant Zn and soil- Zn values. 41 Figure 7(d):- Regression analysis showing relationship between plant - Cu and soil - Cu values. 42 Figure 8: - Dendrogram using average linkage of barely grown on Vertisol and Cambisol soil. 43 viii List of Acronyms A.F.R Actual Fertilizer rate A.S.R Actual Seeding rate BOPED Bureau of Planning and Economic Development DTPA Diethylene triamine penta acetic acid. EARO Ethiopian Agricultural Research Orgaruzation. EB Ethiopian Birr FAO Food and Agriculture Orgaruzation GPPTf Green Promotion Project in Tembien . Tigray. Ha Hectare HTS Hunting Technical Service. ITCZ Inter- Tropical Convergence Zone. NMSA National Meteorological Service Agency. NPK Nitrogen. Phosphorous and Potassium. REST Relief Society of Tigray. R.F.R Recommended fertilizer rate. SAERf Sustainable Agricultural and Environmental Rehabilitation for Tigray. TFAP Tigray forestry action programme. TLU Tropical Livestock Unit. ix List of Symbols ANOVA Analysis of variance. Av.P Available Phosphorous. AAS Atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Base. Sat% - Percent of base saturation. Oc Degree centigrade. CEC Cation exchange capacity. % Percent C/N Carbon to nitrogen ratio. ds/m Deci siemen per meter. EC Electrical conductivity. g.cm-3- gram per centimeter cube. M.C. Moisture Content. Mm millimeter. OM Organic matter. PH Soil reaction. Ppm Parts per million. T.N Total nitrogen. x Abstract Surface soil samples of Vertisols and Cambisols of 0-20 cm depth and leaf samples of barely at 50%jlowering stage grown on surface soils of Vertisols and Cambisols were collected from Adigudom and Dogua Tembien soil catenas to study the micronutrient cations (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu). DTFA at pH 7.3 was used for determination of the micronubients. In the extracts, micronutrients were determined with atomic absorption spectro photometer. The soil analysis revealed that Fe, Mn and Cu were at sufficient range but Zn was deficient. The relatively higher concentrations of Co, Mg, sand fraction, and pH are some of the factors contribUting to Zn deficiency. Moreover, removal of surface soil by erosion and poor land management practices enhance Zn deficiency in both study sites. The leaf analysis indicated that of the micronutrients (Fe, Mn and Zn), Cu was at deficient level. Soil pH and silt fraction had negative correlation with Cu. On the other hand linear regression analysis indicated that there was 94% dependency of plant Cu on soil Cu. xi 1. INTRODUCTION Ethiopia, with great ecological diversity, lies between 5° 45' to 15° N latitude and 31°25' to 4So 35'E longitude, having an altitude ranging from ISO m below sea level to 4620 m above sea level. The total geographic area of Ethiopia is about 112 million hectare of which 66% is estimated to be suitable for agliculture (Mintesinot Behailu, 2002). Tigray belongs to African dlY lands, which is called the Sudano-Sahelian region (Wan'en and Khogali, 1992). It is charactelized by sparse and uneven distlibution of seasonal rainfall, and frequent OCCUl1'enCe of drought.