Record Details

Extent and distribution of surface soil acidity in the rainfed areas of Ethiopia

OAR@ICRISAT

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/12038/
https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4113
 
Title Extent and distribution of surface soil acidity in the rainfed
areas of Ethiopia
 
Creator Desta, G
Kassawmar, T
Tadesse, M
Zeleke, G
 
Subject Soil
Ethiopia
 
Description The soil acidity level is a key soil characteristic that determines soil nutrient availability,
soil microbial activities, and crop growth. This study was carried out to predict
the extent and severity of soil acidity based on 109,704 soil pH samples collected
from soil laboratories and compiled from various studies. Rainfall, altitude, slope gradient,
soil, and land cover were considered to generate multivariate interpolated soil
pH surface. The performance of the co–kriging model was found to be satisfactory
with a standard error of 0.77, root mean square error of 0.51, and R2 of 0.74. The
model estimates showed that 47% of the Country's total area and 45% of the rainfed
areas are acidic (pH < 6.5). Out of the total area of the Country, 3.7% (42,264 km2) is
found to be extreme to strong acidic (pH < 5.5), 20.7% (236,724 km2) is moderate
acidic (5.6 < pH < 6.0), and 22.5% (257,290 km2) is slight acidic (6.0 < pH < 6.5),
whereas the respective coverage in the rainfed agricultural areas is found to be 12%
(80,732 km2), 18% (120,500 km2), and 14.6% (97,202 km2). As informed by the
model results, integrated acid soil management efforts should be given a priority to
severe soil acidity areas of western, central, northwestern, and southern parts of the
Country. Thus, appropriate integrated land management techniques that enable to
reduce soil acidity and halt land degradation should be initiated, informed by the map
produced. Regularly updating the extent and distribution of surface and sub-surface
soil acidity is recommended in future studies.
 
Publisher Wiley
 
Date 2021-09-28
 
Type Article
NonPeerReviewed
 
Identifier Desta, G and Kassawmar, T and Tadesse, M and Zeleke, G (2021) Extent and distribution of surface soil acidity in the rainfed areas of Ethiopia. Land Degradation & development (TSI). pp. 1-12. ISSN 1099-145X