Farmers and scientific-based assessment of soil quality in the Choke agroecosystem, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

Abstract

Local farmers' expertise in soil quality and management strategies is essential for preserving the fertility of farmlands and for the collaborative development of strategies to sustain farm productivity. This study aims to investigate farmers' and scientific-based assessment of soil quality in the Choke agroecosystems, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. One hundred twenty-three households were selected purposively from the five agroecosystems (lowland and valley fragmented (AES 1), midland plain dominated by Vertisols (AES 2), midland plain dominated by Nitosols (AES 3), sloppy midland (AES 4), and hilly and mountainous highlands (AES 5)) of the Choke watershed. A total of 20 composited soil samples were taken from 0 to 20 cm soil depth from plots of surveyed farmers. Farmers' perceptions of soil quality are based on visible crop performance, soil-related and biological indicators, and the area's slope. There is some inconsistency in the classification of soil quality across different AES due to variations in soil and crop management practices, as demonstrated by the difference between the perceived high soil quality by farmers in the midland part and the higher nutrient content found in the sloppy and mountainous highlands. The current study disagrees with the result from scientists, where higher content of OM is found in areas where farmers perceive light/ yellowish soil color (AES 4 & 5) and low OM is recorded in the black color of soil (AES 2). Thus, the result suggested that local soil knowledge should be constructed for the site-specific agroecosystem to sustain soil and crop production.

Keywords

• Agroecosystem
• Farmers' perception
• Scientific analysis
• Soil quality indicators