Spatial Distribution of Soil Organic Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Levels in the Finger-Millet Growing Areas of Eastern Uganda

Joseph Ekwangu, Susan Balaba, Twaha Ateenyi, John Tenywa and Sylvester Baguma

Background and Objective: Considerable proportions of soils in the semi-arid agroecology of Eastern Uganda are highly weathered with low nutrient reserves and therefore, have limited capacity to supply N, P, K and Mg to meet the crop growth requirements. This is coupled with climate change and its associated vagaries. A study was therefore, conducted in 2021 to determine the spatial distribution of soil nutrient levels to inform soil management practices to enhance finger millet productivity. Materials and Methods: Fifteen composite soil samples were taken at a depth of 0-15 cm from five farmers’ fields randomly selected from each of the parishes of Olupe, Okulonyo and Kuju in the Districts of Kumi, Serere and Amuria, respectively. A total of 60 composite samples collected from the three districts stated above were analysed using wet chemistry method as described in a book “Laboratory Methods of Soil and Plant Analysis”, Second Edition. The results from the wet chemistry method were subjected to analysis using Arch GIS software and soil nutrient maps generated in addition to analysis of variance with means separated using least significant difference (LSD) of 5%. Results: It was noted that SOC, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium were below the critical values in all the three sites of Amuria, Serere and Kumi. Finger millet yield decline was highly correlated with low levels of N and P in the soil which were also highly correlated with low levels of SOC. Conclusion: Soils in the semi-arid Agroecology of Eastern Uganda are limited in the major nutrients required to support plant growth with finger millet inclusive.

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