Land Preparation Methods and Soil Quality of a Vertisol Area in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

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Land Preparation Methods and Soil Quality of a Vertisol Area in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia UNIVERSITÄT HOHENHEIM INSTITUT FÜR BODENKUNDE UND STANDORTSLEHRE ___________________________________________________________________________ HOHENHEIMER BODENKUNDLICHE HEFTE __________________________________________________ Herausgeber: Ellen Kandeler- Thilo Streck- Karl Stahr Heft 76 Teklu Erkossa Jijo Land Preparation Methods and Soil Quality of a Vertisol Area in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia 2005 UNIVERSITÄT HOHENHEIM (310); D-70593 STUTTGART ___________________________________________________________________________ HOHENHEIMER BODENKUNDLICHE HEFTE __________________________________________________ Teklu Erkossa Jijo Land Preparation Methods and Soil Quality of a Vertisol Area in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia Bodenbearbeitungsmaßnahmen und Bodenqualität auf einem Vertisol im zentralen Hochland von Äthiopien Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde am 22 Juni 2005 von der Fakulität III- Agrarwissenshaften I (Pflanzenproduktion und Landschaftsökologie) der Univesität Hohenheim als Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Agrarwissenschaften angenommen. Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 13. Juli 2005 Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. R. Blaich 1. Prüfer und Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. K. Stahr 2. Prüfer und Mitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. J. Sauerborn 3. Prüfer: Prof. Dr. Römheld Diese Arbeit wurde von dem Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst gefördert Table of content 1 Table of Content Table of Content .......................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5 1.1 The rationale of soil quality concerns ............................................................. 5 1.2 Scope of soil quality issues.............................................................................. 6 1.3 Soil quality issues in Ethiopia ......................................................................... 6 1.4 The need for stakeholder participation............................................................ 6 1.5 Hypothesis ....................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Objectives ........................................................................................................ 7 2 The issue ................................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Soil and land quality degradation.................................................................... 8 2.2 Soil conservation efforts in Ethiopia ............................................................... 9 2.3 Potential and management of Vertisols......................................................... 10 3 Assessment of land and soil quality .................................................................. 13 3.1 Function and evaluation of land .................................................................... 13 3.1.1 Land and its functions ................................................................................ 13 3.1.2 Land qualities and indicators ..................................................................... 13 3.1.3 Land evaluation procedures ....................................................................... 14 3.1.4 Review of land evaluation systems............................................................ 15 3.2 Concept, definition and features of soil quality ............................................ 16 3.2.1 Concept of soil quality ............................................................................... 16 3.2.2 Definition of soil quality ............................................................................ 17 3.2.3 Features of soil quality............................................................................... 17 3.3 Dynamic soil quality and management ......................................................... 18 3.4 Soil quality and functions.............................................................................. 18 3.4.1 Soil quality and productivity...................................................................... 19 3.4.2 Soil quality and sustainability.................................................................... 20 3.5 Soil quality assessment.................................................................................. 20 3.5.1 Indicators of soil quality............................................................................. 22 3.5.2 Comparison of indicators ........................................................................... 23 3.5.3 A minimum data set ................................................................................... 23 3.5.4 Scoring and integrating indicators ............................................................. 23 3.5.4.1 Indicator scoring.................................................................................. 24 3.5.4.2 Integrating score values....................................................................... 24 Table of content 2 3.5.5 Significance of soil quality assessment...................................................... 25 3.6 Shortcomings of soil quality concept and analysis ....................................... 26 4 Materials and methods....................................................................................... 28 4.1 Characteristics of the study area.................................................................... 28 4.1.1 Location...................................................................................................... 28 4.1.2 Geology and hydrology.............................................................................. 30 4.1.3 Climate ....................................................................................................... 30 4.1.4 Farming system and land use ..................................................................... 30 4.2 Components of the study ............................................................................... 31 4.2.1 On farm assessment of soil quality ............................................................ 31 4.2.2 Soil characterization................................................................................... 32 4.2.2.1 Field description of the soils ............................................................... 32 4.2.2.2 Soil sampling from profiles and farmers fields.................................... 32 4.2.3 On-station assessment of soil quality......................................................... 34 4.2.3.1 Treatments and experimental design................................................... 34 4.2.3.2 Soil sampling from the station ............................................................ 35 4.3 Soil analysis................................................................................................... 35 4.3.1 Soil physical analysis ................................................................................. 35 4.3.2 Soil chemical analysis................................................................................ 36 4.3.3 Soil biological analysis .............................................................................. 39 4.3.4 Soil mineralogical analysis ........................................................................ 39 4.4 Runoff and soil loss assessment .................................................................... 39 4.5 Crop performance .......................................................................................... 40 4.5.1 Crop productivity ....................................................................................... 40 4.5.2 Economic analysis...................................................................................... 41 4.6 Integration of soil quality indicators.............................................................. 41 5 Participatory soil and land quality assessment................................................ 42 5.1 Soil function and soil quality......................................................................... 42 5.1.1 Soil functions.............................................................................................. 42 5.1.2 Soil quality ................................................................................................. 43 5.1.3 Soil quality and crop production................................................................ 45 6 Characteristics of the soils in the watershed area ........................................... 48 6.1 The reference profile ..................................................................................... 49 6.1.1 Physical characteristics .............................................................................. 49 6.1.2 Chemical and mineralogical characteristics............................................... 51 6.2 Farmers fields ................................................................................................ 53 6.3 Analytical differences between the local soil groups.................................... 55 Table of content 3 7 Land preparation methods and crop productivity ......................................... 56 7.1 Agronomic productivity and profitability ..................................................... 57 7.1.1 Effect on agronomic characters.................................................................. 57 7.1.2 Effect on grain and straw yields................................................................. 58 7.1.3 Economic and financial performance .......................................................
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