Conclusions

The results revealed the poor fertility status of these lowlands, especially, very low levels of organic matter, ammonium, nitrate and phosphorous. Soils pH reveals the strongly acid status of the lowlands, while nitrate, ammonium, OM, P, and K content reveal severely nutrient deficient soils. In terms of particle size distribution, Sampigbaa and Fuu were dominated the silt size particles, Doninga by clay size particles and Tampola by sand size particles. Apart from summary statistics, Euclidean distance modelling and DTM proved to be useful geospatial tools that elucidated different patterns of soil variability within and among the four sites. Based on CV, the lowlands are moderately to strongly variable with CVs ranging between 5% to > 100%. Lowest CVs were associated with pH while the highest CVs were associated with NO3, NH4, K and S, which could be attributed to non-uniform fertility management by small-scale farmers. Euclidean distance modelling revealed that, K, Ca, Mg, Na, clay and silt content among other soil properties increased with increasing distance from the stream while P decreased with increasing distance from the source of flooding, mostly reflecting moisture and texture gradients. At the Doninga site, local relief as captured by the DTM of the site, was more significant in elucidating the pattern of variability, while the Tampola site showed variation characteristic of a toposequence or a catena.

Overall, the study established differences between lowlands that developed as a result of overbank flooding and lowlands that are depressions where water accumulates for cultivation during the season. The study also showed that soil properties of these lowlands are spatially variable and soil property maps could be valuable in identifying patterns of variability which could be useful for management. For example, farmers and extension agents could rely on maps such as these to identify parts of a field / farm that is deficient in a nutrient that is required for a specific crop and apply the necessary remedy.

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CHAPTER 3: TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON PROPERTIES OF RICE HUSK