Theses and Dissertations Collection

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations Collection by Subject "Chemical analytical"

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    Soil and land evaluation of a section of Kilombero valley.
    (Sokoine University of Agriculture, 1981) Mmtkonga, Abdul- Ali Mohamed Samll
    A section of Kilombero Sugar Company about 400 hactares in size was chosen for this projeit. A detailed study with objectives of performing soil, survey and land evaluation was carried out. Twenty one pits distributed over the different units were excavated,described for their external and internal features.Samples from the horizons taken and analysed for their physical and chemical charact eri sties.The soils were classified using the Soil Taxonomy of the USDA, while the FAO frame-work was used for land evaluation.Inceptisols were found to be the most dominant in the study area, while Entisols are prominent in areas within active river action. Ultisols occupy areas where the soils are formed in situ and Mollisols appear only in small patches.In the study area, six mapping units have been identified.They are the well drained Ml imani in the west and Mtoni in the south, the moderately well drained Msolwa and Msolwa—Bwawani complex in central areas and the imperfectly well drained Bwawani and Nyarubungu in very low lying, eastern parts of the study area. land evaluation of the study area has revealed that Ml -imarKi is highly suitable for sugarcane, some parts of Msolwa and Mtoni as moderately suitable, -while MsoiV)a»Bwaw^ni, and Bwawani. .are^eu^gimally suitable for sugarcane growing.NyarubunguWUS found to be currently not suitable for the growing of sugarcane.Wetness limitation is noted to influence parts of Msolwa, Bwawani and Nyarubungu, while soil fertility limitationi^luenoes Msolwa^-Bwawani, Msolwa and Nyarubungu.Soil Physical limitation mainly duo to texture has also been found to influence Mtoni section.Drainage, flood control, selection and application of fertilizer and irrigation have been recommended ae some of the agricultural practices and measures for increased sugarcane production. Rice has been suggested as an alternative crop for Myarubungu v/here sugaroane growing 1b currently not suitable.