Soil Nutrient Balance and Stock on Smallholder Farms at Agew Mariam Watershed in Northern Ethiopia

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1225228/v1

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Soil Nutrient Balance and Stock on Smallholder Farms at Agew Mariam Watershed in Northern Ethiopia

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1225228/v1

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Introduction

Soil nutrient balance is used to evaluate the state of soil fertility, rate of nutrient depletion, sustainability of land productivity, the environmental wellbeing of an area, and to take appropriate management decisions. This study was conducted to quantify soil nutrient balance and stocks on smallholder farms at the Agew Mariam watershed in northern Ethiopia in the 2020/21 main season.

Methods

Inflows and outflows of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) into, and out of barley, tef, and wheat farms were determined through, field measurement, laboratory analysis, and interviews. The balance quantification was done by subtracting nutrient outputs from the inputs.

Results

The N partial balance of barley, tef and wheat was -66, -9.8, and -50.7 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 respectively. The P balance was also -5.9, 0.9, and -2.6 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 for barley, tef, and wheat respectively. Whereas, K balance was -12.3, -3.2, and -5.4 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 from barley, tef, and wheat respectively. The balance results revealed that N, P, and K had negative values except for P in tef. Grain yield and crop residue removal were the major paths of nutrient loss. The stock of N was 1295, 1510, and 1240 from barley, tef, and wheat kg ha^-1respectively. While, the P stock was 63, 18.7, and 27.5, kg ha^-1 from barley, tef, and wheat farms respectively. Similarly, K stock was 1092.7, 1059.4, and 1090.6 kg ha^-1 from barley, tef, and wheat cropping systems respectively.

Conclusions

Reversing the imbalance between inflows and outflows via adding organic and inorganic fertilizers is critically essential for the study area.

Barley

Inflow

Outflow

Tef

Wheat

Soil fertility is a limiting factor for agricultural production (Lehmann et al. 2003). However, it has been declining as a result of low organic and inorganic fertilizers application (Heerink 2005; Elias 2019), poor land management practice, and soil erosion (Dagnachew et al. 2020). Similarly, continual nutrient elimination via crop harvests with inadequate nutrient substitutes depletes the nutrients (Bekunda et al. 2002). Soil nutrient depletion negatively affects agricultural productivity (Abera et al., 2009), sustainability (Elias 1998; Gebremedhin and Swinton 2003; Kiros et al. 2014), and food security (Nyssen et al. 2007; Vlek et al. 2010). Hence soil fertility management is a serious issue for farmers and researchers as soil properties vary spatially and temporally (Rosemary et al. 2017). This is because crop production and productivity improvement mainly depend on soil nutrient management (Koch et al. 2020). To reverse such nutrient management practice immediate and proper corrective measures should be done on time in place (Oenema and Pietrzak 2002; Ejigu et al. 2021).

Soil nutrient balance is the summation difference between nutrient input flows and output flows within a particular framework over a certain period (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1990). On the other hand, it is the difference between the nutrients entering a farming system (mainly livestock manure and fertilizers) and the nutrients leaving the system (the uptake of nutrients for crop and pasture production). Simultaneously, it is used to identify the present status of agricultural cultivated fields, soil health levels and to take appropriate measures (Haileslassie et al. 2006; Lesschen et al. 2007). Likewise, it is an indicator of soil whether soil fertility is being maintained, improved, or degraded (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1990). Similarly, it serves as an indicator of management practices and the sustainability of the farm, and the systems (Jiri1 and Mafongoya 2018; Theodora 2018). In Ethiopia, many studies on nutrient balance showed a negative balance (Belete 2014; Kiros et al. 2014). This was due to the ineffective use of locally available nutrient resources, and the high cost of synthetic fertilizers (Elias 2002; Aticho et al. 2011). Soil nutrient stock is the accumulation of plant nutrients in the soil that can be available to plants from 5 to 10 years (Sanchez and Palm 1996). Therefore, prudent nutrients management strategies for better crop yield and sustainability are indisputable.

In the Waghimera zone of the Amhara national regional state, Ethiopia there is less vegetation cover, poor crop residue management, low organic and inorganic inputs resulted in poor soil fertility. Agricultural production and productivity were low. Regarding this, the productivity of barley, tef, and bread wheat were 2078, 550.5, and 1021 kg ha^-1. Consequently, in the study area, there was food insecurity and continuous refuge (BOA 2018). On the other hand, there is a critical research gap on nutrient balance in this part of the country. Therefore, the study was initiated to quantify nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium nutrient balance and stock of smallholder farms at Agew Mariam watershed in northern, Ethiopia.

Description of the Study Area

The study was conducted in the Agew Mariam watershed, Waghimera Administrative zone, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia in the 2020/21 main crop season. It is located from 38⁰ 53’14’’to 38⁰ 56’15’’ longitude and 12⁰ 31’40’’ to 12⁰ 32’ 33’’ latitude with an altitude of 2104 to 2361 meters above sea level. It is located at a distance of 720 km north of Addis Ababa and 20 km south of Sekota town in Sayda kebele of Sekota district (Fig. 1). The watershed was delineated in 2016 by Sekota Dryland Agricultural Research Center as a model watershed for agricultural technology generation, adaptation, and dissemination. It has an area of 147 hectares.

The study area has a uni-modal pattern of rainfall that extends from the beginning of July to early September. The mean annual rainfall was 590 mm, while the mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures were 13 °C and 27 °C respectively from 2000-2020 years (Agew Mariam and Kombolcha metrological station). The area belongs to dry semi-arid midland (Girmay et al., 2020). The soil types of Sekota district including the Agew Mariam watershed have Nitisols, Vertisols, eutric Regosols, and eutric Cambisols soil types. There are four major land-use types in the Agew Mariam watershed. These are cultivated land (71.4 %), bushland (19.7%), area closure (8.2%), and residence (0.7%) (Reda et al. 2018). The farming system is characterized by subsistence mixed crop production and livestock husbandry. The major grown crops are Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter), barley (Hordeum vulgar L), and faba bean (Vicia faba L.). The area has a high potential for livestock production including cattle, apiculture, poultry, goat, sheep, and donkey.

Data collection and analysis methods

The sampling crop farms were selected in purposive random sampling techniques. Considering slope class levels (lower, middle, and upper), socio-economic status (poor, medium, rich) wealth categories, soil fertility level, and management activities. Totally 23 representative farms were selected. Among them 10 wheat, 3 barley, and 10 tef farm fields. The inflows of N, P, and K through mineral and organic fertilizers were determined by interviewing the farmers. While the outflows through harvest crop yield and crop residue removal were measured by multiplying the amount of grain and straw by its nutrient contents (FAO 2003) formula. The data of above-ground biomass (grain, and straw) were collected directly from the entire whole field using hanging balance. Moreover, N, P, and K nutrient contents of the crops were analyzed in the laboratory based on their standard procedures. Finally, Partial nutrient balances were quantified by estimating nutrients entering into the farm through organic and inorganic fertilizers and subtracting nutrients lost by harvested crop grain yields and crop residue removal (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1998; Stoorvogel 2007; Zingore et al. 2007).

About one kg of composite soil sample was collected by auguring diagonally ten subsamples from each sampled crop farm at a depth of 0.2 m for the analysis of N, P, and K contents, soil SOC, and soil separate particles. Additionally, undisturbed soil samples were collected from the selected crop type using a core sampler for the analysis of bulk density. The input of added N and P content converted from NPSZnB into corresponding total N and P in kg ha^-1 by multiplying the amount of P₂O₅ by 0.44. But, the total quantity of applied commercial urea fertilizer was changed into elemental nitrogen amount (Aticho et al. 2011). Moreover, soil N, P, and K stocks estimation inputs data of nutrient contents, bulk density, and sampling depth were collected in the field survey. Further, it was analyzed based on the Bond (2010) equation.

The stock of N, P, and K (kg ha^-1) = bulk density (kg m^-3) X soil sampling depth (m) X respective concentration (kg kg^-1) X area (10⁴ m²) of N, P, and K. Finally, Field surveyed, laboratory analyzed soil and plant samples data of inputs, outputs, and stored were summarized using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and additionally, statistical analysis was done using SAS software version 9.0, and the mean separation was analyzed by using 5% least significance difference (LSD).

Soil sample analysis

The collected composite soil samples were analyzed at Sekota Dryland Agricultural Research Center and Amhara Design and supervision works Enterprise soil laboratory (ADSWE). The soil was air-dried and sieved through a 2 mm sieve for NPK and textural class analysis, but for SOC analysis it was sieved at 0.5 mm. Soil organic carbon was determined following the wet digestion method as described in Walkley and Black (1934). Total nitrogen was determined by the Kjeldahl method (Sertsu and Bekele 2000). Available potassium determined by Morgan’s solution and K in the extract was measured by a flame photometer (van Reeuwijk 2002). Available phosphorus was determined following the Olsen method (Dean and Olsen 1965). Soil bulk density is the weight of a dry soil per unit of soil volume and its values were calculated based on the core method. Drying undisturbed soil samples by oven dry at 105⁰C for 24 hours, then divided the dry soil by its volume (FAO 2020). Soil texture was analyzed through the hydrometer method (Bouyoucos 1962; Beverwijk 1967).

Plant sample analysis

The plants harvested manually on their maturity dates were preferred by the farmers. Crop biomasses were weighed using a hanging balance. Similarly, the grain yield of barley, tef, and wheat was collected and measured. Representative straw samples were taken into oven-dry at 65⁰ C for 72 hours to avoid moisture contents. Then both straw and grain were taken for laboratory analysis (Olson 1963). Plant tissue (grain and straw) was air-dried and grinded to pass through a 0.15 mm mesh (Robinson 1994; Okalebo et al. 2002). The concentrations of the total nitrogen in the plant were determined by micro-Kjeldahl digestion, distillation, and titration method (Walkley and Black 1934). Phosphorous and potassium concentration in the plant were measured by spectrophotometer and flame photometry respectively and determined with the procedure described by (Thomas et al. 1967).

Inflow of Nutrients

Cereals barley, tef, and wheat were the major crops in the Agew Mariam watershed. The addition of nutrients into the farms from mineral and organic fertilizers sources was very low. Only a few farmers (30.4%) use inorganic fertilizers for the production of tef, barley, and wheat which was ratified by this research through interviews. The farmers applied only synthetic fertilizers in the form of NPSZnB and urea for the production of field crops. The average used nutrient for the barley was 7.7 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 but no addition of P fertilizer sources. For tef 5.1 and 2.6 kg ha^-1yr^-1N andP were used respectively. While in wheat farmlands 3.1 and 2.7 kg ha^-1 yr^-1N, and P added respectively. Since proper nutrient management is very critical to increase crop production and sustain soil productivity (Demissie and Bekele 2017). Although there was no K fertilizer addition has been done for each study crop farm. The added N, and P amounts could not meet the crops' optimum requirement of nutrients for better production. The recommended amount of nitrogen and phosphorous for tef and wheat to the area were 92 and 10 kg ha^-1 N and P respectively (Melak et al. 2021). However, the crops in the study area had no responses to K on crop yields (Esubalew and Sebnie, 2018). But, this statement disagrees with the findings of Haile and Mamo (2013) in Chencha and Hagere Selam in Southern Ethiopia K had responses on wheat yield.

The value of nutrient input addition in the study area was low even as compared with other areas (Geze 2019; Haileselassie et al. 2005, 2006; Van Beek et al. 2016). This might be related to the poor dissemination of mineral fertilizers in the study area. Most of the farmers in the study area could not afford the money to purchase and use mineral fertilizers to their farms. The reasons were high poverty levels, lack of reliable credit services, and the ever-increasing cost of mineral fertilizer affect farmers’ fertilizer usage. According to Elias (2002) and Tefera et al. (2020), the above-mentioned problems similarly affect the farmers to use low inputs. In Ethiopia, smallholder farms get only 30–40% fertilizer (Spielman et al. 2011). As a result, cereal yields and fertilizer use are low in Ethiopia (Zerfu and Larson 2010). Additionally, unreliable, and erratic rainfall is another factor since in dry areas these fertilizers negatively affect crop production (World Bank 2007). The result of this study was similar to the findings of Kiros et al. (2014) and Mesfin et al. (2020) who reported that poor farmers purchase lower amounts of chemical fertilizers compared with the rich.

According to the results of the interview, farmers did not apply organic fertilizers (farmyard manure and compost) to their barley, tef, and wheat farms. Since the number of animals per household is very low in number for the production of excess farmyard manure. The smaller amount of farmyard manure produced per household is mostly used around the homesteads plots and as fuelwood. So that, there were no input flows of N, P, and K from organic sources to the major cereal field crops. The availability of organic sources' of fertilizers depends on livestock number and family labor size for transporting to the farmlands (Elias 2002). However, currently, in the study area as well as in the rest of the country, farmyard manure is used as a source of energy (Abegaze 2005).

Outflow of nutrients

The amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium lost via harvested crop yield from barley were 40.1, 3.8, and 3.1, from tef 6.2, 0.6, and 0.6, from wheat 22.5, 2.4, and 1.3 kg ha^-1yr^-1 respectively (Table 1). The magnitude differs among crop types due to their production potential, soil type, agronomic practice, and nutrient uptake (Brady 2008; Belete et al. 2018; Sarkar et al. 2020; Assefa et al. 2021). The outflows of N, P, and K by crop residue removal from barley were 33.6, 2.2, and 9.2, from tef 8.7, 1.2, and 2.6, and wheat 31.3, 2.9, and 4.1 kg ha^-1 yr^-1respectively. The loss of K through straw residue removal is greater than grain yield since straws had a high K content (Lupwayi et al. 2005; Jiang et al. 2018; Assefa et al. 2021). Whereas, the straw of cereal crops had lower N and P contents than grain (Gezie 2019; Assefa et al. 2021).

The outflows of N from barley, tef, and wheat fields were 73.7, 14.9, and 53.8 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 respectively as illustrated in (Tables 1). The highest amount of N was lost in the barley farms followed by the wheat farms. However, the lowest loss was recorded from the tef farms. The reasons for this variation could be associated with the variance in grain and straw yield, the amount of mineral fertilizer added, and nutrient uptake (Stoorvogel and Smaling 1990; Kroeze et al. 2003; Tankou et al. 2013). The harvested crop products and straw residues removal are mainly the major pathways of NPK losses from agricultural soils (Kiros et al. 2014). Similarly, grain yields had better N uptake (Kiros et al. 2014; Assefa et al. 2021). Thus, the amount of N lost in this study agreed with the findings of Mesfin et al. (2020) in Raya-Azebo from the poor farmers' field 48.7 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 was lost. However, it disagreed with the findings of Kiros et al. (2014) who reported in the May-Leba catchment of northern Ethiopia the loss of N was 101 kg ha^-1 yr^-1and Gezie (2019) who reported the loss of 93.1 and 80.1 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 from tef and wheat farms in the upland area of Gumara river respectively.

The outflow of phosphorous from barley, tef, and wheat farmlands were 5.9, 1.7, and 5.3 kg P ha^-1 yr^-1respectively. The removal of P from tef was the lowest one compared with barley and wheat, this might be related to its smaller above-ground biomass yield. The current research finding is in line with the findings of Elias (1998) and Kiros et al. (2014). But, it contrasts with Van Beek et al. (2016), Gezie (2019) and Lewoyehu et al. (2020). Whereas the outflows of K from barley, tef, and wheat farms were 12.3, 3.2, and 5.4 kg ha^-1 yr^-1respectively. The higher outflows of K were recorded by crop residue removal than grain yield. This might be due to the straw having better K content. Moreover, the overall loss of K was low compared with other studies. This might be due to low nutrient uptake by the crops as the N and P were not supplied sufficiently that resulting in low crop yield. The current study showed lower losses of K than the other findings (Hileselassie et al. 2005, 2006; Lewoyehu et al. 2020).

Table 1. The amount of nutrient outflows from major farmlands (kg ha^-1 yr^-1)

The variabilities of standard deviation among the output and, stock of nutrients were high. In some of them, it exceeds 100% of the data as shown in Table 1. This was caused by the nature of the difference in socio-economic conditions, and farm management activities like nutrient inputs addition. The high grain and straw yield gap between farmlands was among the reasons (Van Beek et al. 2016).

Partial soil nutrient balance

The partial nutrient balance is the summation difference between fertilizers (organic, and inorganic) and above-ground biomass yields (grain, and straw). The partial N balance of barley, tef, and wheat were -66.1, -9.9, and -50.7 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 respectively (Table 2.). Comparatively, tef’s partial nutrient balance was better than barley and wheat, as a result of the outflows through grain yield, and straw was low. This may be due to low above-ground biomass yield. As a whole, the result revealed that N import into the croplands’ was highly lower than export out of the soil system. Hence, the balance was negative. It implies that the sustainability of the farmlands was at risk (Jiri1 and Mafongoya 2018; Theodora 2018). Unless reversing the trend of the balance. It may be impossible to increase production, and crop cultivation at all.

Phosphorous partial balance of barley, tef, and wheat were -5.9, 0.9, and -2.6 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 respectively, as presented in (Table 2.), tef had positive values, even though like N the inputs were very low because of its low outflows by crop yield, and residue removals. Whereas, barley and wheat had negative balances. As a result, the outputs did not counterbalance by the inflows. P was the second most important essential plant nutrient, but farmers’ could not add sufficient organic and inorganic P fertilizer sources. Consequently, the yield of crops was low which could lead to low agricultural income and household food insecurity problems in the study area. This study finding is in line with Mesfin et al. (2020) 6.3 in Alaje and, 10.6 kg ha^-1 in Raya-Azebo. Our study was in line with the finding of Gezie (2019) who reported 11 and -1 kg ha^-1for tef, and wheat respectively. On the contrary, our finding differed from the findings of Haileselassie et al. (2005) who reported 6 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 for Amhara National Regional State. Moreover, Haileslassie (2006) reported a barley-enset farming system with positive P while N and K revealed slightly negative balances. Generally, Phosphorus is an important agricultural input in the world, but it is limited by known phosphate reserves and geological time scales (Cordell et al. 2009). Hence it requires a proper management strategy.

Potassium nutrient fluxes (partial balance) of barley, tef, and wheat were -12.3, -3.2, and -5.4 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 respectively. The result revealed that exported K from the farms was more than the imported into the farms. This was due to the low yield of above-ground biomass. As a result, the loss of K by harvested crop yield and straw removal might not cause severe K depletion in the major cereal crops' farmlands. However, it needs the application of K fertilizer sources. Our finding is in agreement with Haileselassie et al. (2005) who reported -2 kg K ha^-1yr^-1for Amhara National Regional State. But it contradicts with the national value of 7 as well as a cereal-pulse system of -87, -11, and -23 kg ha^-1 yr^-1for barley, tef, and wheat respectively. Similarly, with the findings of Gelana (2014) K balance for the poor, medium, and rich were -53.98, -54.46, and -56.17 kg ha^-1yr^-1 respectively.

Table 2. Partial soil nutrient balance of major crop types

Nutrient Stock

Total N, available P, and available K stock for the upper 0.2m depth of the watershed values were low as illustrated in Table 3. The stock of N for barley, tef, and wheat farms were 1295 ± 481.1, 1510 ± 600, and 1240 ± 181 kg ha^-1, respectively. Available P stock for barley, tef, and wheat farms were 63 ± 81, 18.7 ± 4.3, and 27.5 ± 11 kg ha^-1respectively. Whereas, the stock of available K on barley, tef, and wheat farms was 1092.7 ± 122, 1059.4 ± 169.4, and 1090.6 ± 168.5 kg ha^-1 respectively. The result revealed that the stocks were varied among croplands. The differences were related to bulk densities and nutrient content variation (Aticho and Elias 2011). The stock of N, P, and K had no direct relationship with the current available amount. Because it will be available to the plants gradually in the coming 5-10 years (Sanchez and Palm 1996). The objective of nutrient stock improvement was not to maximize their concentration on soil but to maintain the required optimum amount for sustaining agricultural production. In the tropics and sub-tropics food production usually relies on available soil nutrient stocks (Sheldrick et al. 2002). The result indicated that inappropriate soil fertility as well as, land management activities were not effective in maintaining soil nutrient stocks (Tegene 1998; Elias 2002). Removal of crop residue for animal feed, low addition of compost, farmyard manure, and mineral fertilizers cause land degradation (Haileselassie et al., 2005). Soil fertility management practices should be modified continuously in space and time since it is not static (Boesen and Hansen 2001).

Application of combined organic and inorganic fertilizers for a long time improved soil nutrient contents of total N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in the upper 0.1 m depth (Bedada 2015). The current study had lower stock compared to Haileselassie’s (2006) who reported 5510, 1200, and 30800 kg ha^-1 of N, P, and K stock respectively in tef-based cereal-pulse systems, and compared to Gebeyehu and Soromessa (2018) who reported N stock value of 2890 kg ha^-1for rain feed and 3180 kg ha^-1 for irrigation 0 - 0.15 m depth. This might be related to the poor soil fertility management practices of our study area (Girmay et al. 2020). Low inputs additions, severe land degradation, and lack of crop residue retention reduce the stock (Zerssa et al. 2021). The stocks of N, P, and K had no statistically significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) among the farmlands (Table 3). However, the farmlands barley, tef, and wheat had a significant effect on nutrient stocks. The stock of N > K > P in all field sites. The results revealed that the amount of N, P, and K throughout the watershed were similar, but there was an amount difference between the N, P, and K amounts.

Table 3. The nutrient stock within farmlands (0.2 m soil depth)

This study result revealed that the habit of using locally available nutrient sources was underprivileged. Thus inflow addition for N, and P were below the recommended level. The partial balance of N, P, and K was negative in all farmlands of barley, tef, and wheat, except the tef P balance. The result implies that the sustainability of the farms' production system being at risk. In general, the study showed a negative nutrient balance with low total nutrient stocks, because of inadequate input additions. To improve the agricultural production capacity of smallholder farms soil fertility should be corrected by adding optimum organic, inorganic fertilizers, and crop residue retention. Similarly, more extension services on the addition of organic and synthetic fertilizers shall be in place. Further studies on integrated soil fertility management activities should be practiced to recover the agricultural productivity of the farms.

Acknowledgment: Researchers of this experiment express their deepest gratitude to the Amhara Agricultural Research Institute for funding the research work, and Sekota Dryland Agricultural Research Center for facilitating logistics during the research work.

Author contribution statement

Tilahun Esubalew: Conceived, planned, designed the experiment, and collected the data; wrote the paper. Tadele Amare and Eyayu Molla: supervised and reviewed and edited the paper.

Funding statement

Not applicable to this manuscript.

Data availability statement

We declare that the data used in this manuscript can be made available as per the editorial policy of the journal.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable to this manuscript.

Consent for publication

Not applicable to this manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declared that there is no competing interest.

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Soil Nutrient Balance and Stock on Smallholder Farms at Agew Mariam Watershed in Northern Ethiopia

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