Fertility Status of Some Selected Floodplain Soils and the Management Recommendations on the Maximun Yield of Tomato (Lycopersicum Esculentum) in Kebbi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was under taken to assess the fertility status of the flood plain soils of some selected local government areas of Kebbi State and recommend management practices to be provided for the maximum yield of tomatoes in Kebbi State. Soil samples were analyzed for the various physical and chemical properties following the standard procedures. The study revealed that the soils were predominantly sandy loam in texture with the mean particles composition of 715.71 gkg-1, 87.42 kg-1 and 196.87 kg-1 for sand, silt and clay, respectively. The soils contained low organic carbon of 6.0 gkg-1 and high concentration of nitrogen (0.8 gkg-1) which might be due to frequent addition of nitrogenous fertilizers on the soil. The low available phosphorus of 0.64 mgkg-1 was observed which might be due to acidity level of the soils (pH 5.6). On the basis of exchangeable bases, the soils were discovered to be low in Ca (1.51cmolkg-1), but high in Mg content (1.78 cmolkg-1). The soils contained high Na value of 0.59cmolkg-1 an indication ofsodicity hazard. The K content of 0.64 cmolkg-1 was also high in the soils of the study area. Based on the obtained values of the above parameters, the soils could be considered as medium in fertility. Based on the concentration of EC (0.55 dsm-1) ESP (6.04%) and pH 5.6, the soils could be considered to be free from salinity and sodicity at least for now, but has