TITLE:
Soil and Land Suitability Assessment for Rice Cultivation at Tono Irrigation Area in the Upper East Region, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Prince M. Gyekye, Charles Y. F. Domozoro, Mohammed Musah, Felix O. Ababio, Adams Sadick
KEYWORDS:
Soil Classification, Lowland, Upland, Irrigation, Valley Bottom
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.11 No.11,
November
29,
2021
ABSTRACT: Agriculture is one of the livelihood supports for the people of Upper
East Region of Ghana. Soil evaluation research was conducted at Tono Irrigation
Scheme to assess soil and land suitability for rice cultivation in the
irrigable area of Tono Irrigation Scheme. A total of eleven (11) soil samples were collected
and analysed for their chemical and physical properties. Based on field
observation and criteria for soil suitability assessment, the different soil types that were identified were
classified at the series level based on their position, parent material and the
observed physical characteristics. The results indicated that the pH of the soils was within
the acceptable range for crop production; however, the overall fertility level
of the soils was very low. Physically, the upland soils were well to moderately
well-drained, consisting of coarse-grained sandy loams topsoil overlying
similar sandy loams and sandy clay loams at depth. They included Leptosols and
Lixisols. The soils of the Scheme under lowlands and valley bottom sites,
however, included Eutric Gleysol, Calsic Vertisol, Eutric Fluvisol and Eutric
Plinthosol, which were heavily textured and relatively poor drained, or
medium-textured and moderately to imperfectly well-drained. They showed a low
to a very low rate of water percolation losses, which is good for the current
farming system of cropping rice within the lowlands and valley bottom sites of
the Scheme.