Potassium (K)-To-Magnesium (Mg) Ratio, Its Spatial Variability And
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Laekemariam et al. Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:13 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0165-5 Agriculture & Food Security RESEARCH Open Access Potassium (K)‑to‑magnesium (Mg) ratio, its spatial variability and implications to potential Mg‑induced K defciency in Nitisols of Southern Ethiopia Fanuel Laekemariam1*, Kibebew Kibret2 and Hailu Shiferaw3 Abstract Background: Potassium (K) availability depends on exchangeable K and relative amounts of other cations. Yet, the latter has mostly been overlooked. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate availability and spatial distribution of soil K in Nitisols of Wolaita area, southern Ethiopia, with particular regard to emphasis on assessing the potential for magnesium (Mg)-induced K defciency. About 789 soil samples were investigated and mapped using ordinary kriging method. Results: The result showed that 14.8% of the samples were K-defcient based on exchangeable K rating, whereas the K defciency due to antagonistic efects of Mg was 54%. The spatial analysis also revealed that 68% of the study area (i.e., 57, 120 ha) has shown Mg-induced K defciency. The fnding is against the long belief that soils of the study area and the country contain sufcient quantity of K. Conclusion: The fndings of this study imply the need for inclusive approach while assessing the K status of soils and also call for greater attention toward K fertilizer intervention that was not in place in the study area. Nonetheless, further study including fertilizer application rates is suggested. Keywords: Antagonism efect, Ethiopia, Geostatistics, Mapping Introduction Fertilizer-related interventions in Ethiopia were based Potassium (K+) is an essential plant nutrient next to on national soil survey that was conducted by FAO nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P). It aids plants in the between 1950s and 1960s [5]. Consequently, the use of physiological processes such as transportation of water, mineral fertilizer in the country had been focusing on nutrients and carbohydrates, photosynthesis, N utiliza- N- and P-containing fertilizers in the form of urea (46- tion, stimulation of early growth, and in insect and dis- 0-0) and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) (18-46-0). ease resistance [1, 2]. It also helps plants regulate the Meanwhile, application of K as a commercial fertilizer opening and closing of stomata [1, 3] which is needed in the country received little attention. Tis was due to for efcient water use. In addition, a close relationship the generalization that Ethiopian soils are believed to between K nutritional status and plant drought resistance contain enough or sufcient quantity of the K nutrient. has also been demonstrated [4]. Such belief has emanated from the research of Murphy [6] conducted some fve decades ago. Since then, pres- sure on land due to anthropogenic factors and farming practices has been changing. Some reports also indi- *Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] cated that continuous application of N and P fertiliz- 1 Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture, Wolaita Sodo ers might have led to the depletion of other important University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article nutrient elements such as K, magnesium (Mg), calcium © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Laekemariam et al. Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:13 Page 2 of 10 (Ca), sulfur (S) and micronutrients in soils [7, 8]. If potential K defciency and generate K status map for the agricultural intensifcation and omission of K from the studied districts of Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. fertilizer regime continues, the risk of K limitation is expected to increase. Methodology Currently, there is growing evidence of increasing K Description of the study area defciency in diferent areas of Ethiopia. Tis is sup- Te study was conducted during 2013 in Damot Gale, ported by research fndings who reported the limitation Damot Sore and Sodo Zuria districts located in Wolaita of K under investigated soils [7, 9–15]. Te depletion of zone of Southern Nations’, Nationalities’ and Peoples’ K could be associated with continuous cultivation, com- Regional State (SNNPRS) of Ethiopia (Fig. 1). Te study plete removal of crop residues from farmlands, absence districts from Wolaita zone were purposely selected of crop rotation, unbalanced fertilizer application, soil because they have good potential for agriculture. Te erosion, loss of organic matter (OM) and inadequate fer- sites are located from 037°35′30″–037°58′36″E and tilizer application (e.g., [5, 15, 16]). 06°57′20″–07°04′31″N. Te study area that covers about Apart from the aforementioned reasons, the defciency 84,000 hectare (ha) has a bimodal rainfall pattern with of K in Ethiopia has also been reported on soils having small rain in autumn (March–May) and major rain in optimum amount of exchangeable K [14, 15, 17]. Tis summer (June–August) seasons. Te long-term mean might be connected with the disproportionate quan- annual precipitation is 1355 mm and monthly tem- tity of calcium (Ca2+) and/or magnesium (Mg2+) com- perature fuctuates between 17.7 and 21.7 °C with an pared to K [14, 15, 17, 18]. Tis defciency caused by a average of 19.7 °C [21]. Te elevation varies from 1473 gross imbalance is known as induced defciency [19]. to 2873 m.a.s.l (own survey data). Te area is predomi- According to Hoskins [19], there is usually an inverse and nantly characterized by mid-highland agroecology. Eutric adverse relationship between a very high concentration Nitisols associated with humic Nitisols are the most of one cation in the soil and the availability and uptake of prevalent soils in the study area [22]. Agriculture is pre- other cations by the plant. Tat is, if Ca and/or Mg domi- dominantly small-scale mixed crop-livestock subsistence nate the exchange complex over K, it may reduce K avail- farming. Te farming system is mainly based on continu- ability and potentially result in K defciency [14, 15, 17]. ous cultivation without any fallow periods. Te major Tis implies that K availability does not solely depend on crops grown in the study area include: tef (Eragrostis tef the K content of soils, but also depends on the relative (Zucc.)Trotter), maize (Zea mays L.), bread wheat (Triti- amounts of other cations (Ca, Mg and K). Tus, knowl- cum aestivum L.), haricot bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), edge on the relative proportion of cations (Ca, Mg, K) feld pea (Pisum sativum L.), potato (Solanum tuberosum than single cation evaluation (e.g., K) has been suggested L.), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas (L) Lam.), taro (Colo- to explore nutrient antagonism and ensure sufcient sup- casia esculenta (L.) schott.), enset (Ensete ventricosum ply of each nutrient [14, 15, 17–19]. Yet, this potential (Welw.) chesman) and cofee (Cofea arabica). for induced limitation has been overlooked mostly by depending only on soil exchangeable K values to ascer- Soil sampling procedure and laboratory analysis tain soil K status. Soil sampling procedure In Wolaita area, where this study was conducted, agri- Geographical information system (GIS) was employed to culture has been practiced under diverse slope positions randomly assign predefned sampling locations following (1–58%). In addition, continuous cultivation without fal- the Ethiopian Soil Information System (EthioSIS) sample low periods, complete crop residue removal from the distribution procedure [13]. Accordingly, 789 sampling farm and inadequate soil management were also com- points (243 in Damot Gale, 216 in Damot Sore and 330 mon practices [16]. Fageria et al. [20] indicated that up in Sodo Zuria) were generated for sample collection. to 70% of the total K accumulated in crops is found in Tese sampling locations were randomly distributed at crop residues. Tis has potentially important repercus- an average separation distance of 512 meters. During the sions for soil K fertility in the cultivated felds of the study survey work, the sample locations were navigated using area where crop residues are removed under continuous geographical positioning system receiver (model Garmin cropping. However, limited information is documented GPSMAP 60Cx). with respect to the availability of soil K. Tus, the pre- At each sampling point, 10–15 subsamples were taken sent study examined the hypothesis that K could be def- based on the complexity of topography and heterogeneity cient in soils of Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia, due to of the soil to make one composite sample. Samples were the presence of high amount of Mg relative to K. Te collected using soil auger. Soil sampling depth for annual objective of this study was to evaluate the availability and crops (e.g., tef, haricot bean, maize, wheat) was 0–20 cm, spatial variability of soil exchangeable K and Mg-induced whereas it extended to 50 cm for perennial crops such as Laekemariam et al. Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:13 Page 3 of 10 Fig. 1 Location map of SNNPRS in Ethiopia and Wolaita zone in SNNPRS: (a) the study districts in Wolaita zone (b) and soil sampling points in the study districts (c) enset and cofee. From the composited sample, one kil- Altic B.V., Dronten, the Netherlands, using Mehlich-3 ogram (kg) of soil was taken with a labeled soil sample multi-nutrient soil extraction method at 1:10 (soil–solu- bag.