Article Type : Research Article
Authors : Yuga ME and Wani J
Keywords : Soil texture; Inorganic fertilizer; Macro-nutrient; Organic fertilizer; Soil fertility; Soil samples
Soil is one of the most important
resources for food production, and it regulates and supports ecosystem
functions. For soil to sustainably perform its functions, an understanding of
its potentials and limitations is crucial. The physical, chemical, and biological
properties of soil need to be well understood prior to its intensive use. The soil fertility and farming systems study
was carried out in the farming areas of Magwi, Juba and Yambio counties of
South Sudan. Soil samples of 18, 30 and 41 were collected from Juba, Magwi and
Yambio counties between November 2021 to December 2021. Each soil sampling
point was geo-referenced to aid the development of nutrient spatial maps. The
soil samples were packaged, labelled, and taken to the Soil, Plant and Water
analytical Laboratory, at the Department of Agricultural Production, maker ere
University for analysis. These samples were processed and analyzed for soil
texture, soil pH, soil organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous and bases
(Calcium, Potassium and Sodium). The results of the analysis indicated that
soil pH, Calcium and Potassium were within suitable ranges for most crops.
However, soil organic matter, Nitrogen and available Phosphorous were all below
critical limits for most crops. The soil texture across the sampled counties
was predominantly sandy loam to sandy clay loam. The results from analysis
indicated that both Nitrogen and Phosphorus are low (<20kg N kg-1) and (<
15kg P2O5 kg-1) in the sampled soils. For smallholder farmers to obtain optimum
yields in the three sampled States of South Sudan, fertilizer application rates
of at least 60kg N ha-1 and 10kg P2O5 ha-1 would be required. In addition, integrated soil fertility
management and Conservation Agriculture practices should be introduced. Integration
and use of improved seeds, organic and inorganic fertilizers to increase and
stabilize crop yields is recommended. Training extension officers on integrated
soil fertility management and conservation agriculture practices is recommended
to help propagate the knowledge to smallholder farmers to apply the
conservation practices to enhance crop production.
Agriculture is the economic mainstay of majority of the countries
in Africa. However, while Agriculture based Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) has been shown to be twice as effective at reducing
poverty compared to GDP growth originating from other sectors,
many countries in Africa are still grappling with severe food
insecurity challenges, with most of them unable to produce enough
for their growing populations. South Sudan is one of these
countries [1].
The most important crops in the country include maize, sorghum,
millet, cassava, groundnuts, and beans. Smallholder farmers are the
drivers of South Sudan Agriculture sector. It is estimated that about
83% of the total farming households are resource-poor smallholder
farmers who cultivate, on average, a land size of 0.4-0.5 hectares
[2]. Yet, on-farm yields are low and do not exceed 0.4 t ha-1 for
the major staple food crops.
South Sudan has 62 million hectares of land in the Nile River basin,
approximately, 75% of the total land area is suitable for agriculture
and 50% is highly suitable for crop cultivation. Despite having
immense agricultural potential with abundant fertile lands, South
Sudan utilizes only 4% of its vast arable lands to produce half its
cereal requirements which often lead to recurring grain deficits, food insecurity, malnutrition, hunger, and rising food prices [3].
South Sudan today has one of the world’s weakest and most
underdeveloped economies. To revive the economy of South
Sudan, the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) is
implementing a seed sector development project in South Sudan
which provides market-oriented interventions to support the
establishment of a commercial, sustainable, and adaptive
agriculture sector in South Sudan.
The project ensures the availability of improved seed down to the
last-mile through Agri-entrepreneurship and support existing
private sector seed companies to improve seed and input
marketing, distribution, and production practices. A3-SEED seeks
to reach more than 100,000 farming households, double incomes
from marketable surpluses, increase farmer yields by 20-50% on
target commodities, facilitate the development of 100 agro-dealers
as well as 200 women-owned and 200 youth-led businesses, and
bring 42,000 ha of farmland under agro ecological production.
To achieve these targets IFDC engaged the services of a consultant
to conduct Soil Fertility & Farming Systems Assessment in the
selected project sites of Magwi, Yambio and Juba counties.
Understanding the soils and its limitation is vital to increase crop
productivity.
The purpose of the assessment was to identify soil fertility gaps in
the project sites and develop recommendations for promotion and
dissemination of improved soil fertility management technologies.
Description of the study areas
The study was conducted in green belt region covering Juba, Magwi and Yambio counties of Central, Eastern and Western Equatorial State of South Sudan (Figure 1). Within each county, sub-counties (Payams) and villages (Bomas) with agricultural potential were selected for soil sampling (Table 1). Yambio County is in Western equatorial State with Longitudes: 27.606° E and 28.981° E, Latitudes: 4.269° N and 6.54°N (Figure 1). Its altitude ranges from 560-813 m above sea level and is bordered by Nzara County to the West and Ibba County to the East. It also borders Lakes State (Wulu County) to the North and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the South. This State is known for its natural resources especially teak. It is a food basket for major part of the country. According to the County falls within the equatorial maize and cassava livelihoods zone [4]. Magwi County is in Eastern Equatorial State, with Longitudes: 31.715° E and 32.887° E, Latitudes: 3.3.497° N and 4.395°N (Figure 1). Its altitude ranges from 514-2,223 m above sea level. The County borders Imatong County in the East, and Republic of Uganda in the Southwest. Crops grown in the County include cassava, maize, and sorghum with some cultivation of sweet potatoes, groundnuts, beans [5]. Juba County is in Central equatorial with Longitudes: 30.498° E and 32.206° E, Latitudes: 3.948° N and 5.49°N (Figure 1). Its altitude ranges from 539-1296 m above sea level. The County borders Imatong County in the East, Magwi County in the South, Terekeka County in the North, Kajo Keji and Mundri County in the West. Juba is the capital city of South Sudan. The main crops grown in the County include sorghum, maize, cassava. Other activities include cattle rearing and fishing [5].
Topography of study site
The areas sampled were generally on flat to gentle slopes, except for some areas in Magwi and Juba counties where slopes of >30% were found (Figure 2)
Figure 1: Map of study areas in South Sudan.
Rainfall and temperature
of study area
The study areas experience a unimodal pattern
regarding seasonal rainfall, with onset observed in March, the peak in August
and cessation in November (Figure 3). The dry season on the other hand begins
in December and ends in February. This kind of pattern yields an average
growing period of at least 8 to 9 months in length.
The relatively long growing season favours the production of annual and perennial crops. Such pattern is also regarded as being conducive for cattle rearing as the rainfall received is sufficient to support production of pasture. For the case of average temperature, a sinusoidal pattern is observed during the year where warmer temperature are recorded during the dry season and cooler temperatures during the wet season. The highest temperature is observed at onset of rainfall (March) whereas the lowest temperature occurs in August during the peak of the wet season.
Soils of the study areas
Six main soil mapping units were identified
within the project areas (Figure 4). These were described following the World
Reference Base international soil classification system as follows: [6]
Soil Sampling and mapping
The consultant and the extension workers carried out
transect walks to identify the different soil mapping units including their
boundaries and field characterization of the identified soil units.
Auger point observations were made across the selected fields, taking note of field observable soil properties such as colour, soil texture, structure, and soil organic matter. Augerings were also used for preliminary assessment of depth of plough (top) layer. These sampling points were geo-referenced and plotted on the county respective maps (Figure 2). Selection of sampling points was done following standard procedures but also based on safety and access to the fields. Sampling was done to depth of 30 cm using an auger. For each sampling site, 10 sub samples were picked and mixed in a basin for quarter sampling and generation of a composite samples. A total of 18, 30 and 41 soil samples were collected from Juba, Magwi and Yambio County respectively (Table 1).
Table 1: States, Counties and payams of the selected project areas.
State |
County |
Payam |
No of soil samples |
Western Equatoria |
Yambio |
Gangura |
41 |
Sakure |
|||
Nzara Centre |
|||
Yambio |
|||
Central Equatoria |
Juba |
Rejaf |
18 |
Gondokoro |
|||
Lokiliri |
|||
Eastern Equatoria |
Magwi |
Magwi |
32 |
Pajok |
|||
Lobone |
|||
Total |
|
|
88 |
Farming system assessment
A Checklist was developed to collect data on
individual farm systems, enterprise patterns, household livelihoods and
constraints. Each enumerator moved with a checklist and used it to guide the
discussion with the selected agricultural extension workers and farmers living
in the sampled areas.
A total of 64 respondents were interviewed across the
study areas, i.e., 14 from Juba, 22 from Magwi and 28 from Yambio County.
The soil samples were packaged, clearly labelled, and
taken to the Soil, Plant and Water analytical Laboratory, at the department of
Agricultural Production, Maker ere University. The samples were air dried for
three days and ground using a porcelain pestle and mortar and sieved through a
2 mm sieve to remove debris and other non-soil materials including stones and
roots.
Soil properties analyzed include soil pH, total Nitrogen, available Phosphorus, and Organic matter, Potassium, Calcium and Sodium. Soil pH was measured on a soil-water solution at a ratio of 1:2.5 by the help of a pH meter, total Nitrogen (N) was determined calorimetrically following a digestion using concentrated Sulphuric acid and Selenium powder plus Salicylic acid. Available phosphorus content was determined spectrophotometrically at 882 nm wavelength after its reaction with ammonium moly date in the presence of ascorbic acid on mehlich 1 extract [7].
Organic matter was analyzed using the Walkley Black method. Exchangeable Potassium (K) and Calcium (Ca) were read on Mehlich 1 extracts using a flame photometer.
Developing spatial nutrient maps
Spatial soil fertility maps for the macro-nutrients
were generated using spatial analysis, geo-statistical and interpolation tools
embedded in ArcGIS 10.8 and crop specific nutrient deficient areas were shown
and their coverage computed.
Soil fertility and crop specific fertilizer management recommendations were developed by comparing soil Kit results against known critical levels for each soil parameter. The soil properties which have been retrieved were incorporated into the new soils data to be analyzed.
The soil analysis results showed that soil pH, Calcium
and Potassium were within the suitable ranges for most crops. However, soil
organic matter, Nitrogen and available Phosphorous were all below critical
limits for most crops.
The soil texture across the three counties were dominantly sandy loam to sandy clay loam. The results of spatial soil fertility maps showed that soil organic matter, Nitrogen, available Phosphorous and Calcium were between low and moderate across all the counties.
Soil pH is within suitable range for all the counties
while Potassium was sufficient for most areas. The results of the farming
systems assessment indicated that subsistence rain fed agriculture is commonly
practiced for most of the population with only a handful of the population
engaged in formal employment and trade.
The major crops grown in the study areas include maize pigeon peas, soybean, beans, cassava, sorghum, sesame, and cassava. Majority of the farmers depend on family labour and do not apply agriculture inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.
Among the challenges faced by the farmers include land tenure where the land is owned by government, soil erosion particularly in steep slopes, poor roads, pests and diseases and limited access to markets. The major livestock enterprises include cattle, goats, sheep, chicken, and piggery. Other sources of livelihood in the area are hunting. Water resource is very vital and important for agriculture, and the areas are blessed with a few rivers including the River Nile in Juba where fishing is practiced.
The soils in the area are predominantly sandy loam,
well drained with suitable soil pH range pH range (5.5-7.5).
Nitrogen and available phosphorous are the main
limiting nutrients in these soils [8]. Nitrogen is usually the most limiting
nutrient, yet it is very important for chlorophyll production, cell division,
protein synthesis and general plant vigour [9]. Nitrogen is easily lost in the
soil through leaching, volatilization, and immobilization. These pathways
should therefore be managed to keep nitrogen in the soil. Browning /yellowing
of the lower leaves, starting at the apex through the midrib is field
deficiency symptom for inadequate levels of Nitrogen in the soil.
Like Nitrogen, Phosphorous is one of the macro nutrients, needed by the plants in large quantities. It is important in root development, provision of energy to the biochemical processes cell division and elongation, flower initiation, fruit, and seed development [10].
Soil pH influences availability of phosphorous to plants. In these soils however, the soil pH is in suitable range and cannot be a reason for its low levels. Purpling of leaves starting with the old ones (lower leaves) is and indicator of low levels of Phosphorous. Very low levels of soil organic matter in these soils also limits the potential of these soils hold water and nutrients, and thus these soils are susceptible to leaching and degradation. It must be noted that soil organic matter is mainly affected by land use change and accumulation of soil organic matter is affected by the environmental factors particularly soil moisture and temperatures.
As a starting point, legumes and cover crops like
soybean and beans should be included as intercrops to enhance build-up of
organic matter and nitrogen biological fixation.
Soil nutrient management is best achieved by
integrating organic fertilizers. Animal manure is a common source of organic
fertilizers but will require bigger quantities to meet the crop nutrient
requirements, supplementing it with inorganic sources is recommended especially
for the poor nutrient soils in the sampled areas.
To realize optimum yields in the study areas, fertilizer application rates of at least 60kg N ha-1 and 10kg P2O5 ha-1 would be required. It must be noted that soils are highly variable and thus there is “no fit to all recommendation”.
In addition, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and soil Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices should be introduced. Integration and use of improved seeds, organic and inorganic fertilizers to increase and stabilize crop yields is recommended. Training extension officers on ISFM and CA practices is recommended to help propagate the knowledge to smallholder farmers to enhance crop production.
This study was funded by the International Fertilizer
Development Centre (IFDC), project number EKN A3 SEED. The opinions expressed
herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of
IFDC. The author(s) are thankful to Makerere University, Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security and the County Agriculture Departments for their
guidance in field operations and providing infrastructural support.