Optimizing fertilization schemes to narrow the maize yield gap in smallholder farming systems in southern Ethiopia.

Maize ( L.) is an important food crop in Ethiopia, but productivity is low mainly due to low soil fertility and suboptimal fertilization. Therefore, this study aims to determine the yield, nutrient use efficiency and economic feasibility of maize production under various fertilizer applications and test the suitability of the Quantitative Evaluation of the Fertility in Tropical Soils (QUEFTS) model for predicting maize yield response to fertilization in Sidama region, southern Ethiopia.

Potassium adsorption capacity and desorption kinetics in soils of Qenberenaweti sub-watershed, central highlands of Ethiopia.

Determining the supply and uptake of K nutrient and the dynamic equilibrium (adsorption-desorption) reactions among the K forms in the soils are not commonly addressed in the highlands of Ethiopia. A study was therefore initiated to determine the adsorption capacity of the exchangeable K and the release kinetics of the non-exchangeable K in the soils of the Qenberenaweti Sub-watershed. Twelve disturbed surface (0-20 cm) soil sub-samples were collected from every farmland which was representative of each pre-identified soil type (Vertic Cambisols, Pellic Vertisols, Pisoplinthic Luvisols, Relictistagnic Cambisols, Pisoplinthic Cambisols, and Plinthofractic Cambisols).

Numerical classification of termite-mediated soils along toposequences and rangeland use influenced soil properties in southeast Ethiopia.

Despite termite-induced soil mixing, summarizing termite-affected soil horizons is difficult, while the lack of accurate information on the pedogenic processes featured by termite bioturbation, topography, and land use limits an effort to address land degradation. A study was therefore carried out to quantitatively classify the soils and describe them based on rangeland uses. Based on cluster analysis, five representative soil profiles were studied at different topographical positions.