Effect of Land Management on Soil Characteristics in Mid-Hill Regions of Bagmati Province, Nepal
About this article
Keywords:
Agricultural Land; Barren Land; Mid-Hill; Physicochemical Characteristics; Soil Quality IndexAbstract
The land management has a considerable impact on soil characteristics and quality that directly affects the production functions of an agricultural ecosystem, and the sustainability of the system. The comprehensive analysis of soil characteristics in relation to the land use patterns is very limited in Nepal. Therefore, the present work evaluated soil quality of agricultural and barren lands in the mid-hills of Nepal using Soil Quality Index (SQI). For this purpose, 32 composite soil samples were collected, and pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), available phosphorus (AP), exchangeable potassium (K), and soil texture were measured using standard analytical procedures. The results revealed higher EC (380.93 ± 650.04 µS cm-1), TKN (0.16 ± 0.12%), AP (554.30 ± 409.36 kg ha-1), and K (361.41 ± 430.53 kg ha-1) in the agricultural land. Although the agricultural land has slightly higher SQI, the higher EC and other nutrients may lead to the soil salinization and disruption of soil functions as compared to the barren land. Thus, sustainable agronomic approaches considering nutrients enrichment along with conservation of natural characteristics are crucial for soil stability in the mid-hill agroecosystem of Nepal.
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