Soil Quality Studies of a 22-Hectre Land Area at ‘Ugwuonyeama’ for Agricultural Purposes: Implications on Environmental Protection

Abstract

The soil quality of a 22-hectre land area around ‘Ugwuonyeama’ was studied in order to understand the physico-chemical properties of the soil and the implications on environmental protection. The physico-chemical parameters studied were partcicle size distribution, bulk density, porosity, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable bases and acidity. The obtained results indicate that the soil of the study area contained high proportion of sand and moderately high hydraulic conductivity. The soil was also acidic and contained low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus indicating that the soil would require liming and fertilization with respect to phosphorus and nitrogen to boost agricultural production. Owing to the fact that the soil has moderately high hydraulic conductivity, there is the potential adverse impact of groundwater contamination by fertilizer application. Improper fertilizer application could also lead to surface water contamination that would eventually cause eutrophication of surface waters. This therefore calls for proper soil management in order to boost production yield without compromising environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Soil quality, groundwater, fertilization, physico-chemistry properties, soil nutrients.