Effect of agricultural land management practices on the selected soil quality indictors: empirical evidences from the south Ethiopian highlands

Background Land degradation is a major challenge that adversely affects soil fertility, agricultural production, and environmental sustainability. To curb this, various agricultural land management (ALM) measures have been practiced for the last three decades. This research investigated the effects...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental systems research 2023-12, Vol.12 (1), p.2-13, Article 2
Main Authors: Abera, Aklilu, Wana, Desalegn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Agricultural land management practices
Agricultural production
Boron
Bulk density
Cation exchange
Cation exchanging
Earth and Environmental Science
Empirical analysis
Environment
Highlands
Indicators
Intervention years
Land degradation
Land management
Land use
Land use planning
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Organic carbon
Organic matter
Organic soils
Potassium
Regression analysis
Soil density
Soil fertility
Soil improvement
Soil organic matter
Soil quality
Soil quality indicators
Statistical analysis
Sulfur
Sustainability
Treatment type
Variance analysis
Watershed
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Background Land degradation is a major challenge that adversely affects soil fertility, agricultural production, and environmental sustainability. To curb this, various agricultural land management (ALM) measures have been practiced for the last three decades. This research investigated the effects of ALM practices on selected soil quality indicators in the Ojoje sub-watershed, Southern Ethiopia Highlands. A total of 72 composite soil samples were collected from non-treated and treated plots (i.e., land treated for 5 and 10 years with only physical practices and integrated measures) at a depth of 0–20 cm. A one-way ANOVA was used to demonstrate statistically significant variations on soil quality indicators. Simple regression analysis was used to explain the proportional variance of soil quality indicators due to ALM measures. Result The findings of the study indicate that integrated ALM practices have positive effects on the soil quality indicators. Most soil quality indicators, such as the soil organic carbon, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, sulfur, boron and percentage of cation exchange capacity, were significant (p 
ISSN:2193-2697
2193-2697
DOI:10.1186/s40068-023-00282-y