Effect of biological soil and water conservation on Degraded soil and farmers' perception on land Management practices. A case of lemo woreda, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Land degradation in the forms of soil erosion is one of the major ecological and agricultural challenges in Ethiopia. To overcome this challenge various SWC practices (physical, biological and integration of both) are undertaken in different parts of the country, including Hadiya Zone. However, the effects of SWC practices particularly sesbania (S.sesbania) and elephant grass (P.purpureum) on soil properties are not well understood in Hadiya Zone Lemo Woreda. Therefore, this study was to assess the effects of sesbania and elephant grass on selected soil physicochemical properties, and farmers’ perception on the uses of these practices. To achieve the objectives; soil samples (0-30 cm) were randomly collected from both lands treated with sesbania and elephant grass with four replications. Similarly, samples were collected from the adjacent degraded grazing land as control. The collected samples were analyzed for soil particle size distribution (texture), moisture content, bulk density, pH, EC, CEC, OC, TN, Av.P and exchangeable bases (K+ , Na+ , Ca2+ , Mg2+) following soil laboratory standards. Whereas, information on farmers′ perception on sesbania and elephant grass use for SWC was assessed through structured questioner survey, FGD and Key informant. Cochran’s, 1977 formula was used to determine household sample sizes. Accordingly, 117households were selected for this study. Significant difference of the selected soil physico-chemical properties between the land treated by sesbania, elephant grass and degraded grazing were analyzed using LSD test whereas, farmers’ perception on the uses of sesbania and elephant grass for SWC was assessed by chi-square test. In addition logistic regression model used to assess farmers' perception determinants on soil conservation practices. The ANOVA result revealed that the adjacent degraded grazing land had significant (p<0.05) difference in clay%, silt%, SMC%, BD(g/cm3 ),pH, EC(dS/m), Av.P(ppm), CEC (meq/100g) and Exchangeable bases(K+ , Na+ , Ca2+ , Mg2+) compared to sesbania and elephant grass treated land. However, there was no significant difference on the sesbania and elephant grasses. In addition to this, there was highly significant (p<0.05) difference in OC% and TN% among sesbania, elephant grasses and adjacent grazing land. The highest OC% and TN% were observed under sesbania. Whereas, sand% had non-significant (p>0.5) difference among sesbania, elephant and degraded grazing land. Socioeconomic survey result showed that 82.9% of the respondents perceived sesbania and elephant grass has effects on soil physicochemical properties while 17.1% did not understood effects of the practices on the soil. From the total respondents (82.9%) perceived that these biological conservation improved soil physicochemical properties, the contribution of degraded land managed by sesbania and elephant grass were 52.1% and 30.8% of the respondents respectively. Regarding the socioeconomic uses of sesbania and elephant grass, 99.1% of the respondents perceived the sesbania and elephant grass has socioeconomic benefits. Age, education level and access to SWC extension services were significantly (P ≤ 0.1) affects the farmers′ perception on sesbania and elephant grasses practices in the study area. The community gets benefit from these plants maybe resulted for local community to develop a positive attitude towards sesbania and elephant grass. Generally, sesbania and elephant grass has a great contribution on soil physicochemical properties improvement in the study area. Therefore, expanding sesbania and elephant grasses in to other degraded watersheds is better option for soil physicochemical property improvement with considering farmers perception.