ABSTRACT
A study was conducted in the runoff plots at the University of Nigeria Nsukka Teaching and
Research Farm, in 2010 and 2011 to monitor the changes in aggregate stability, and some
selected physicochemical properties of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different cover and
soil management systems. The management systems were bare fallow (BF), grass fallow
(GF), legume (CE), groundnut (GN), sorghum (SM), and cassava (CA) cultivation. Following
the characterization of the soil of the study site, three samplings were carried out at fivemonth
interval marking the end of first cropping season, and the start and end of the second
cropping season respectively. There was no change in soil texture due to treatments. The soil
was acidic throughout the period of the study with pH values ranging from 5.1 (under BF) to
5.5 (under GF) in 2010 and from 4.8 (BF) to 6.1 (SM) in 2011. The aggregate stability (AS),
mean weight diameter (MWD), water dispersible silt (WDSi), bulk density (BD), total
porosity (TP), macroporosity (MACP), aggregate size distributions (> 2 mm, 1- 0.5 mm and
< 0.25 mm) and Ksat showed significant (P =0.05) changes under different cover
management practices. The Ksat varied (CV = 52%) significantly (P< 0.05) under the
different cover management practices over the sampling period. Generally, the highest values
for Ksat, AS and MWD were obtained in the first sampling period whereas the lowest values
were obtained in the last sampling period. There were significant effects (P 2 mm (80.3, 2.22 and 55.6 % respectively) were obtained under GF
whereas the highest Ksat(16.8cm/hr) was obtained under GN. The lowest values for these
parameters throughout the sampling periods were obtained under BF. The preponderance of
aggregates < 0.5 mm under BF showed that raindrop impact and other agents broke down
macroaggregates into microaggregates. The interaction of cover management and sampling
period was not significant (P
VINCENT., A (2021). Aggregate stability of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different soil and crop management systems.. Afribary. Retrieved from https://track.afribary.com/works/aggregate-stability-of-nkpologu-sandy-loam-soil-under-different-soil-and-crop-management-systems-1
VINCENT., AZUKA "Aggregate stability of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different soil and crop management systems." Afribary. Afribary, 20 May. 2021, https://track.afribary.com/works/aggregate-stability-of-nkpologu-sandy-loam-soil-under-different-soil-and-crop-management-systems-1. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
VINCENT., AZUKA . "Aggregate stability of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different soil and crop management systems.". Afribary, Afribary, 20 May. 2021. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. < https://track.afribary.com/works/aggregate-stability-of-nkpologu-sandy-loam-soil-under-different-soil-and-crop-management-systems-1 >.
VINCENT., AZUKA . "Aggregate stability of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different soil and crop management systems." Afribary (2021). Accessed November 23, 2024. https://track.afribary.com/works/aggregate-stability-of-nkpologu-sandy-loam-soil-under-different-soil-and-crop-management-systems-1