EFFECT OF LAND USE TYPES AND SOIL DEPTH ON SOIL FERTILITY STATUS IN MOCHE, GURAGE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The aims of this study was to assess and evaluate the different land use types(LUTs) in relation to their effect on soil fertility status on soils of Moche, Cheha district, Gurage Zone, Southern central Ethiopia. For this study, four different LUTs (cultivated, enset, eucalyptus and natural forest) were selected to assess and evaluate their effect on soil fertility status. A total 24 disturbed soil samples were collected from the selected LUTs and two different SDs (0-20 and 20-40cn) with three replications for laboratory analysis. Twoway analyses of variances were used for statistical analysis. The result of the study indicated that most of the selected soil physicochemical properties were significantly affected by LUTs, SD and their interactions. Bulk density, total porosity, pH, OM, av.P and CEC were significantly affected by LUTs, SD and the interaction of the two factors. The highest sand (43%), silt (46.5%) and clay (30.30) fractions was observed under FL, ENFL and CUL, respectively. With respect to depth higher silt (40.9%) and clay (28.3%) content were found under subsurface soils. Except CUL, textural classes of the LUTs were loamy. The highest (1.37gcm-3 ) value of bulk density was observed under subsurface soils of CUL and lowest (1.06gcm-3 ) value was observed under surface soils of FL and ENFL, respectively. In contrast to bulk density total porosity was highest (60.1%) under surface soils of FL and ENFL and lowest (48.3%) under subsurface soils of CUL. Soil pH was significantly influenced by the interaction of the two factors. The highest (6.54) and lowest (4.82) pH values were obtained under surface soils of ENFL and subsurface soils of EUCL, respectively. Relatively the highest (7.39%) and lowest (3.47%) values of OM content was recorded under surface soils of FL and subsurface soils of EUCL. The highest (22.69mg kg-1 ) and lowest (5.02mgkg-1 ) mean values of av.P were observed under surface soils of ENFL and subsurface soils of EUCL, respectively. The highest (37.96cmol (+) kg-1 ) and lowest (11.90cmol (+) kg-1 ) CEC values were observed under surface soils of FL and subsurface soils of EUCL. The highest value of exchangeable acidity (1.85 cmol (+) kg-1 ) was recorded under soils of EUCL than CUL. As the result indicated soils of FL and ENFLs were relatively more fertile and expansion of EUCL tree to arable land and intensive cultivation might be attributed to the low soil fertility status. Therefore, choosing proper land use and implementing integrated soil fertility managements are indispensable to cope up with soil acidity, depletion in soil fertility and productivity of the study area.