Suitability assessment for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and coconut (Cocus nucifera) cultivation in coastal plain sands of South Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Some soils of coastal plain sands in South Southern Nigeria were assessed for oil palm and coconut cultivation. This research was carried out to evaluate the soils of the study area using rigid grid soil survey methodology at detailed scale. The study area (128.11 ha) was delineated into four soil mapping units based on soil type. A pedon was sunk in each mapping unit and described according to FAO. Three soil orders, including Entisols (Ahiara), Inceptisols (Kulfo) and Ultisols (Orlu), were identified. Parametric and limitation methods of land suitability evaluation were used. Major limitations to assessment were climate (mean annual temperatures) and soil physical properties (texture/structure). Aggregate suitability rating (both actual and potential) showed that Ultisols (pedons 3 and 4, covering 56.73 ha) was moderately suitable (S2) for coconut and marginally suitable (S3) for oil palm, Inceptisols (pedon 2, covering 54.25 ha) was marginally suitable (S3) for coconut but not suitable (NS) for oil palm, and Entisols (Pedon 1covering 17.13 ha) was not suitable (NS) for any of the crops. Thus, area with Entisols should not be used for cultivation of any of the crops due to major limitation in texture. Moreover, both assessment approaches captured the major limitations. Therefore, the use of any of the approaches employed in this study and for these crops becomes a matter of choice as both of them showed no major differences in the application of their procedures.

Xây Dựng Bản Đồ Thích Hợp Đất Đai Cho Cây Nông Nghiệp Dài Ngày Trên Vùng Đệm Vườn Quốc Gia Tà Đùng Dựa Trên Việc Chi Tiết Hóa Bản Đồ Đơn Vị Đất Đai Và Quy Hoạch Phi Tuyến

“…Dựa trên mức độ đáp ứng của các lớp đơn tính cơ bản, một số tác giả đã chia nhỏ mức thích hợp như S1 thành S11 và S12 trong đánh giá khả năng thích hợp cho các cây trồng [11][12][13], tuy nhiên chưa có các nghiên cứu nhằm bổ sung các yếu tố về mức độ thuận lợi về giao thông và khả năng đáp ứng về nguồn nước trong đánh giá mức độ thích hợp. Theo nghiên cứu về năng suất và xu thế của các chỉ số thực vật trên khu vực nghiên cứu [14,15] thì các yếu tố này có mối liên hệ khá chặt chẽ với khả năng cung cấp nước và mức độ thuận lợi trong giao thông, hay có thể bổ sung nó như một thang điểm phụ trong đánh giá thích hợp đất đai.…”

Land Suitability Evaluation for Effective Land Use Planning, Sustainable and Profitable Crop Production in Minna, Niger State

“…Except wetness, climate and shallow soil depth cannot be amended. Coconut have been reported performs excellently under rainfall range of 2000-3000 mm per annum (Oko-oboh et al, 2018;Okunsebor et al, 2021). After imposing corrective (management) measures to correct the limitations, UCF-1 and UCF-2 remains marginally suitable (S3) while UCF-3 upgraded from currently not suitable (N1) to marginally suitable (S3).…”

“…Hence, the need for conducting land suitability evaluation before embarking on any further development in the farm cannot be overemphasized. According to Okunsebor et al (2021), neglecting land suitability evaluation arbitrarily pave way for allocation of crops to parts of the landscape where they are not ecologically suited, thereby leading to massive failure of agricultural projects. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the soils of the commercial farm of the Federal University of Technology, Minna in the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria for commercial production of maize (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max), mango (Mangefera indica) and coconut (Cocos nucifera).…”