Assessment of Some Soil Fertility Characteristics of Abakaliki Urban Flood Plains of South-East Nigeria, for Sustainable Crop Production

There is lack of adequate information on the fertility situations of the soils of Abakaliki urban flood plains. Farming activities have therefore been carried out on the surrounding uplands only. This study was therefore conducted in 2009 raining seasons, to evaluate the fertility status of the flood plains and compare it with the fertility of the uplands with a view to making recommendations for sustainable agricultural production. Soil samples were obtained from the Iyiudene floodplain, Iyiokwu floodplain, Ebonyi river basin and the surrounding upland and subjected to physical and chemical analysis. The soil texture ranged from loam in the upland areas to clay loam in the flood plains and the river basin. Soil bulk density of the upland soils was significantly higher than the flood plains. The bulk density of the flood plains was respectively suitable for crop production. The soil water holding capacity of the upland was rather too low, whereas the floodplains had adequate water holding capacity for crop production purposes. The soil organic matter was generally low for both the upland and the flood plains. However, the floodplains and the river basin soils contained significantly (p<0.05) higher organic matter than the upland. The upland soil was very acidic whereas the soils of the floodplains were acidic. The soils available phosphorus was low, however the floodplains had significantly (p<0.05) higher soil available P than the upland. Total N, soil pH and exchangeable acidity were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the upland soils than in the soils of the floodplains. Whereas the floodplains had significantly (p<0.05) higher exchangeable Ca, Mg, Na, CEC and base saturation when compared with upland soils. The overall soil fertility status of the floodplains was therefore superior to the upland soils.