Special Elective Course in Agriculture

SEG001
2021/2022 Session

Dr. M. O. Azeez

Department of Soil Science and Land

Resources Management, OAU, Ile-Ife
Soil management for Crop and
Animal Production
 What is soil?
• Soil is the upper layer of earth in which plant grows
• It is the material found on the surface of the earth
• There are 3 phases of soil necessary for plant growth
• Solid, liquid and gas

Soil phases

Source:
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/
10.1007%2F978-90-481-3585-1_151
 Importance of soil
• Soil is the basis for farming activities
• Supplies water and nutrients to crops
• Soils provide anchorage for plant root
• Home to myriad of micro-organisms
• Protect the quality of drinking water, air and wildlife
habitat

Source:
https://www.soils.org/files/science-policy/sss
a-marketing-2013.pdf
 Soil management
• Soil management is the application of operations practices
and treatments to protect soil and improve its performance
• This includes soil amendment, soil conservation and
optimal soil quality

• Why do you need to manage soil?

• We need to manage our soil because soil sustains life; so
stop soil abuse to avoid low crop productivity,
environmental degradation, and human health risk.

• Agriculture is the cultivation of land and rearing of animals,

thus, soil needs to be well managed to achieve this.
 Soil management
• Soil is the foundation of any farming operations

• A healthy soil is essential for growing healthy crops

• Effective management of soil resources improves soil
health

• Soil health refers to the ability of the soil to support and

sustain crop growth while maintaining environmental
quality

• To maintain soil health, it is essential to maintain soil

physical, chemical and biological properties of soil
 Soil properties

Source:
https://extension.umaine.edu/cranberries/grower-services/workshops-and-meetings/b
 Soil management contd
• For effective soil mgt, you must know the type of soil you
have, and this means that you should have soil tested for
macro and micro- nutrients, pH, CEC, heavy metals etc
• There are inherent properties of soil that depend on the
parent materials, geography and soil forming processes; and
are stable over time
• For instance, soils formed from limestone parent material
tend to contain more calcium and generally have high pH.
• Other soil properties are dynamic and can be changed in a
relatively short period of time by human mgt practices e.g
soil organic matter (SOM), nutrient availability, pH e.g
nutrient holding capacity of sandy soil can be improved by
building SOM
• In Nigeria, the farming system that is common is multiple
cropping
Soil mgt practices for crop production
• Maintaining SOM and biodiversity
• Preventing soil erosion
• Application of fertilizers- avoid application of too much
fertilizer to soil becos of environmental implication
• Use of cover crops – legumes- protect the soil and
provides good habitat for soil organisms
• Regular weeding and disease control
• Monitoring soil performance- keep soil records
• Enhancing aeration through tillage operation, minimizing
compaction and providing sufficient nutrients to plants
Tillage helps in preparing seed bed and controlling
weeds
Excessive tillage damages soil structure, degrades
SOM and the risk of erosion
Soil mgt practices for crop production
• Crop rotation: involves growing different types of
crops in the same area in sequential order. Increases
soil fertility due to inclusion of legumes in the rotation

• Shifting cultivation: agricultural system in which plot

of land are cultivated, then abandoned and allow to
revert to their natural vegetation while farmers move
to another plot

• Liming acid soils to increase soil pH

• Use of improved crop varieties

 Soil mgt practices for Animal
production
• There is interdependence among soil, plants and
animal production
• Animal requires nutrient rich forage land on which to
graze
• Forage health is directly related to soil health

• Soil remineralization and rotational grazing are ways

by which farmers can have reliable soil mgt practices

• Soil remineralization: application of macro and

micro-nutrients in mineral fertilizer or organic
fertilizer to improve soil fertility and quality of forage
produced
Soil mgt practices for Animal production
• Rotational grazing: this involves moving the animals
to different sections of their pastures on a set
schedule
• Avoid overgrazing- maintain stock density (the no of
animals that graze in a particular areas of pasture
land)
• Judicious mgt of soil for livestock production must
take the followings into consideration:
Size of the land to no of animals
Length of time the animals will stay
The type of animal
Note: overgrazing is a major environmental problem
where groups of animals feed excessively from one
areas of land without letting the vegetation to fully
 Effects of overgrazing
• Increases soil erosion
• Increases soil compactions
• Reduces infiltration rate
• Reduces water holding capacity of soils
• Loss of valuable species: affects how native species
are distributed in the environment and how they are
able to regenerate
• Affects microbial population and activities
How livestock improves soil fertility
• Livestock feed on plant, which serves as food for human
beings
• Forage crops grown in soil serves as input consumed by
animals and convert plant materials into a usable
output called manures
• Manure can be applied to soil as fertilizers to improve
soil fertility and in turns increases crop productivity
• It enhances essential nutrients for plant uptake
• It increases soil structure
• It also reduces soil compaction
Thank you