Effects of Different Crops and Crop Farming Practices on Soil Degradation in Nyakach Sub-County, Kenya

ABSTRACT: Soil has influenced progression of civilization in many regions because it supports food production. Growth in world population has been met by intensification of soil utilization which in turn has caused diverse changes in physical, biological and chemical properties of soil resource. In Nyakach Sub-county in western Kenya intensified agricultural production and soil degradation have proceeded hand-in-hand. This area portrays a mismatch between agricultural production and soil quality. Efforts to curb soil degradation in the area have not yielded the desired results. Therefore, this study was purposed to find out the effect of local crops on physical soil degradation; and how local crop farming practices impact soil quality. Data collected from 384 farmers using questionnaire, interviews, observation and measurements were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired samples t-test. Results showed that crops that registered low physical soil degradation included sunflower (0.107m), cow peas (0.1303m), cassava (0.1313m), bananas (0.0907m), sugarcane (0.0875m) and rice (0.0988m). Crops that caused high physical soil degradation were beans (0.1819m), maize (0.1684m), sorghum (0.152m), sweet potatoes (0.1075m) and vegetables (0.1276m). Intercropping, fallowing and grazing on fallow land generally led to high soil degradation (0.1532m, 0.1443m and 0.1621m respectively). The researchers concluded that different crops and crop farming practices influenced soil degradation in Nyakach Sub-county. It is recommended that bananas, sunflower, cassava, sugarcane, rice and