VARIABILITY OF RESIDUAL SALT CONTENT IN SELECTED FARM SITES OF GIDAN KWANO, NIGERIA

Abstract

In order to meet the expectation of farmers which is to have a bountiful harvest, various crops need to be cultivated commercially, but soil salinity which is affecting most part of the world, pose serious threat to plant production and the expectation of farmers. Thus, it is valuable, to test the salinity and analyze the chemical parameters of the soils from different farming locations. In the present research, experiments were conducted to assess the seasonal variability of residual soil salt content of selected site in the university farm at Gidan Kwano Minna, the soils were analyzed, and some chemical parameters were found to be more, which may be due to the type of fertilizers used in the various sites, the values of the chemical parameters analyzed are pH (which ranges between 6.25 to 6.88), EC (which ranges between 41 to 70µs/cm), Mn (which ranges between 0.13 to 0.33mg/l), Cu (which ranges between 0.10 to 0.23mg/l), Pb was not observed form the various study locations, P (which ranges between 8.00 to 14.00mg/kg), Na (which ranges between (0.12 to 0.18mol/kg), K ( which ranges between 0.04 to0.16mol/kg),Mg+ (which ranges between 1.10 to2.30mol/kg), Ca+ (which ranges between 1.90 to3.10mol/kg), CEC (which ranges between 1.8 to 4.3) and Fe (which ranges between 0.06 to 0.18). It is therefore recommended that more research be carried out on the chemical applied to the soil and the water use for irrigation. Also maximum amount of water be applied to the farmland to assist in leaching excess salt compound present in the soil.