Aggregate stability of Nkpologu sandy loam soil under different soil and crop management systems

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

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