Abstract: Land use and land cover changes have effect on soil fertility, soil organic carbon stock and soil physicochemical properties. To determine the effects of LULC on selected physicochemical properties of soil and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) a study was conducted in soro district of Hadiya Zone at Shonkola sub watershed under different land use types. Soil samples from 0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm depth were collected from three major land use types; grassland, cultivated land and f...
Abstract: Soil acidity is one of the main factors affecting agricultural productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia. It is one of the problems that decrease the potential of arable lands for crop growth because of high rainfall in highland areas. The purpose of this study was to assess and quantify the extent of soil acidity under different land use systems and to determine the amount of lime required for neutralizing soil acidity in the study area. Three land uses (cultivated, grazing and na...
CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION A well located product can often survive economically even if development is poorly planned and managed. A project that is not well located may fall even though it has the best planning and management and even design, Cassidy (2005). Today, many investors in real estate have no regret for taking a wise decision in site section while many still regret choice of bad location. The ...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out between October – November 2008 and aimed at applying Geographical Information System (GIS) approach in characterizing, classifying and making suitability recommendations of soils in Ohia Nekechi within Amasiri area, Afikpo north, Ebonyi State. This study site was identified in a farmland consisting of a toposequence some meters away from Okposi road, Amasiri. A transect was cut across the toposequence revealing its North facing and the South facing slope...
ABSTRACT Characterization, classification and evaluation of some Wetland soils of Oguta, Imo State Southeast Nigeria were executed. The aim was to have baseline information that will assist farmers and other land users in well informed decision making. Four profile pits was dug on the study area Osse moto Oguta. Free sampling technique was used. With the aid of Global Positioning System (GPS) and soil sampling tools. Soil samples were collected based on the FAO guidelines for profile descrip...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania to assess stakeholders diverging interests and emerging resource use conflicts in apiculture with respect to natural resource management (NRM) by local communities. The study aimed at generating knowledge base for effective governance of NRM by farmers and draw lessons for guiding NRM efforts in the study area. Participatory Rural Appraisal, GIS, focused group discussion; questionnaire survey and participant observation we...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted in Ihale Village, Magu District, Tanzania aimed to assess the effectiveness of selected vegetation cover types as Vegetative Buffer Strip Filters and their corresponding vegetation strip widths in filtering sediment delivery that are likely to enter the surface waters of the Lake Victoria from agricultural lands. Sediment laden runoff plots measuring 2 m by 20, 15, 12.5 and 10 m were established to determine the effectiveness of the selected filters and strip f...
ABSTRACT There are several weather forecasting systems within and outside Tanzania issuing medium-range rainfall forecasts. However, few attempts have been made to evaluate the accuracy of these forecasts. Hence the major objective of this study was to evaluate some selected medium-range rainfall forecasts and forecasting systems issuing those forecasts. Based on the above objective, the study could firstly evaluate medium-range rainfall forecasts in selected bimodal and unimodal areas of Ta...
ABSTRACT A study was carried out in Mavumo area, West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, to analyse the importance of landform and soil characteristics in predicting the distribution of plague reservoirs and vectors. The main aim was to contribute to information base that would link landscape and ecological factors with the spatial distribution of plague disease in the area so as to provide information to institutions that are dealing with health and land use programmes in Tanzania. Remote sensi...
ABSTRACT Vegetation communities are home to a number of animals including small mammals, hence any change in vegetation communities will influence their abundance and spatial distribution. This study aimed at investigating the influence of vegetation communities on small mammal abundance and diversity in the Isimani agroecosystem landscape, southern Tanzania. Three study sites selected based on landscape characteristics and vegetation communities were investigated, classified and mapped. Fo...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted to classify and establish the fertility status of the soil at the Dakawa Irrigation Scheme (DIS) and subsequent to this, a screen-house pot experiment was conducted to assess the response of rice (variety TXD 306) to nitrogen and phosphorus applied to the dominant soil type at the DIS. According to the Soil Taxonomy and the World Reference Base for Soil Resources, the soil of the study area classified as Inceptisol and Cambisol, respectively. Based on physical,...
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Rice production in Tanzania is generally low and continuing to decline partly due to low soil fertility. Smallholder farmers are continuing cultivating in the same area with little or without use of fertilizer due to limited access to costly industrial fertilizers. This trend results into continuous mining of plant nutrients such as phosphorous (P) and other essential nutrients elements which are needed by rice for growth and development; and consequently decline in soil fe...
ABSTRACT Over the past three decades, coastal marine ecosystems of Tanzania have experienced a notable decline in the state of their environment through loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. Much of this change is attributable to human activities. This study investigated changes that have occurred as a result of human activities and climate change/variability, for the period between 2001 and 2011. Two demographically different locations in Zanzibar, namely Kisakasaka and Bumbwini were s...
ABSTRACT The use of relatively high rates of phosphorus (P) is known to result in a build up of P in soils and there are frequent claims that the use of phosphate rocks results in higher residual effects than water soluble sources. Thus the objective of this study was to assess residual P in treatments where relatively larger amounts of P from triple super phosphate (TSP) and Minjingu phosphate rock were applied. Total amount of P applied was 480 kg P /ha applied to Kanhaplic Haplustult at th...
ABSTRACT Plants acquire P from soil solution as the phosphate anion. Phosphorus for plant can be obtained from soluble P fertilizers or from insoluble phosphate rocks. It is highly fixed by calcium and by Fe and Al oxides depending on soil pH. Phosphorus solubilizing microorganisms play a major role in P nutrition through solubilisation of insoluble phosphate rocks. The use of phosphate solubilizing microorganisms as inoculants increases P uptake by the plant and crop yield. This study was un...