Soil salinity assessment using geostatistical models in some parts of Kano River Irrigation Project Phase I (KRPI)
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Soil salinity assessment using geostatistical models in some parts of Kano River Irrigation Project Phase I (KRPI) Binta Lawan Yusuf1 · Adamu Mustapha2 · Maharazu Alhaji Yusuf3 · Mohammed Ahmed3 Received: 14 February 2020 / Accepted: 3 June 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Continuous irrigation in the study area may lead to the development of salinity or sodicity problems that may affect the agricultural productivity. Soil salinity assessment was conducted at Kano River Irrigation Project Phase I (KRIP I). This study was carried out to assess soil salinity level and variability at the study site. The grid sampling technique was adopted where fifty (50) sub surface soil samples were collected from plots under three different management practices at the depth of 0–15 cm. Laboratory techniques of determining soil salinity parameters were conducted for the following parameters: EC, pH and exchangeable bases ( Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+). Geostatistics and Semivariogram analysis were applied for spatial variation of the soil properties. The results revealed that the chemical properties of the soil were moderately acidic to slightly acidic soil reaction. The mean values of EC and CEC were rated low according to USDA standard, while ESP was rated high indicating sodicity problem. The nugget/sill ratio model or spatial dependency Co/(Co + C) defines the spatial property. The result revealed that pH, ESP, CEC, Ca2+, Na+ and Mg2+ are having stronger dependency, while K+ with moderate and EC with weak dependency within the model. This was connected to anthropogenic activities in the area which resulted to strong spatial correlation after a long history of cultivation or the type of soil management practices. The study recommends among other issues the use of compost manure to replace excessive application of synthetic fertilizer especially on sites with potential salinity/sodicity concern for effective soil remediation. Keywords Salinity · Semivariogram · Geostatistics · Irrigation · Kano · Nigeria
Introduction In the developing countries such as Nigeria, the need for the increase in food production to feed and improve the standard of living of the ever-increasing human population led to introduction of irrigation agriculture schemes. This has facilitated the cultivation of a piece of land twice or more in a year and has improved the farmer’s standard of living economically. Irrigation agriculture has contributed immensely in reaching development objectives of food security, poverty * Adamu Mustapha [email protected] 1
College of Art, Science and Remedial Studies, Kano, Nigeria
2
Department of Geography, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Nigeria
3
Department of Geography, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Kano, Nigeria
alleviation and improvement of rural populace livelihood especially in developing countries and many irrigated fields result to rise in salt levels an
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