Integrated land use management for sustainable large scale coffee farming in nakuru district, Kenya
2000
Ng'ang'a, J.K.(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi (Kenya). National Agricultural Research Laboratories) | Ekirapa, A.E.(Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi (Kenya). National Agricultural Research Laboratories)
Two large-scale coffee farms divided into 13 coffee blocks in Nakuru district were selected for integrated land use management (ILUM) studies. Twenty six observations representing 13 coffee blocks were sampled. Composite samples (0-30 em depth) were collected for soil fertility analysis. Coffee berries were picked from three representative coffee trees per site for yield analysis. This paper highlights the intergrated approach of land use management as a mitigating factor against soil degradaticn through erosion especially in coffee (Coffea arabica) farms. The erosion status generally varied from stable to severe (class 1 to 5) with the most of the fields experiencing moderate to critical conditions. A direct relationship between management, nutrient status, soil erosion and slope steepness was established. Samples analysed indicated a pH range of strongly acid to moderately acid (pH 4.5-5.5), with deficiencies of phosphorous in 30% of the samples. Ca, K, and Mg were adequately supplied in the soil, although they did not occur in their right proportions. Organic matter was adequately supplied in the soil as indicated with a range of 2.2-3.7%. C Slopes ranging from 5 to 18% suffered the highest degree of erosion, while well managed gentle slopes showed the least erosion. The coffee fields with good agronomic and conservation measures had the least erosion and had higher crop berry yields in spite of steep slopes. The SiltQay ratio and %C indicated that the most of the sampled topsoil were slightly erodible to erodible (class 2 to 3). The low nutrient levels encountered in some fields was due to undersupply of inorganic phosphate based fertilizers. Organic maater was adequately supplied to all the soils, as aresult of compoundig effect of incorporated surface mulch. The high silt clay ratio is indicative of high erodibility of this soils, however, the higher amounts of %C mitigates the erosion phenomena. Most of the soils were deficient in P.
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