Review of some chemical characteristics of selected acid soils of south-western Ghana.
1991
Owusu-Bennoah, E., Department of Soil Science, University of Ghana, Legon | Acquaye, D.K., Department of Soil Science, University of Ghana, Legon.
A sound knowledge and better understanding of chemical characteristics of naturally-occurring acid soils are important for proper management practices on these soils for increased and sustained crop production. This paper reviews available data on some chemical properties of five acid soils in southwestern Ghana. The soils are highly acidic with pH in 0.0lMCaCl2less than 4.5; their dominant clay mineral being kaolinite, and are generally low in basic exchangeable cations, particularly Ca, but high in exchangeable AI, with the Al saturation exceeding 60 per cent. The soils contain little organic carbon even though they occur in evergreen rain forest. They are also low in N. Availability of P seems to be a major problem of these soils. Organic P in the five soils ranged from 37 to 156 J.1g gol and constituted 41-70 per cent of total P. P sulphate and organic S accounted for 14 per cent and 86 per cent respectively of the total S in the soilso The C-bonded S and HI-reducible S constituted the bulk of the total S accounting for 52 and 45 per cent, respectively. Generally, the soils in the forest zone appear to be well endowed with available S. Both total Fe and Mn are high, and available forms occur in toxic amounts, while Zn, Cu, B and Mo levels in the soils are low to marginal. To make the soils productive, liming to decrease the detrimental effects of soil acidity and phosphate application to build up P status and improve fertility and organic matter status are proposed.
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