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Influence Of Topography On Soil Profile Characteristics And Fertility In Some Parts Of Akwa Ibom State
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The cardinal objective of agriculture is to produce enough food to feed the population of the world and enough raw materials to meet the demand of our industries and earn foreign exchange for the country through exports of agricultural produce. Beautiful as these objectives are, non of them can be achieved if the soil is not fertile enough to support the growth of plants. This is because only fertile soil can provide nutrients in sufficient amounts to support the optimum production of plants. The soil therefore holds the hope of all in terms of food production. According to Brady and Weil (1999), to the farmer, the soil is more than useful, it is indispensable. Conscious of these facts therefore it becomes necessary that the soil should be given a very close attention in terms of management in order to achieve the objectives of agriculture.
In modern agriculture, proper soil management remains one of the pivots upon which it revolves. This is because it ensures continuous fertility hence the continuous productivity of the soil. Proper soil management refers to using a piece of land in such a way that it can be expected to produce indefinitely at an optimum level at all times (Metalfe and Elkins, 1976).
Unless a fertile or potentially fertile soil is identified and distinguished from a poor non-productive soil, it may be ignorantly used for other purposes. To the farmer, this is a negative development as rich agricultural soils should be reserved for the cultivation of crops while poor agricultural soils should be used for building of structures.
To be able to identify a fertile soil and distinguish it from a non-fertile soil, the soil must be surveyed. It is in the process of surveying the soil that different soil types will be identified and possibly mapped out and its properties studied with a view to maintaining or sustaining the fertility of a fertile soil and improving the productive capacity of a less fertile soil. Also measures taken to improve or sustain fertility in soils with a given characteristic can also be used in solving the same problem at the different location where such soil types are found and where the same climate and the same geomorphic feature prevail
Hence according to Metcalfe and Elkins (1976) one of the functions of soil survey as a soil management tool is to relate conservation practices to the soil characteristics and climate conditions.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 2]
Page 1 of 2
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