Assessment of Farmers‘ Perception on the Status , Classification and Management Practices of Soil Fertility in Comparison to Scientific Practices: in the case of Ada‘a district, central highlands of Ethiopia
| dc.contributor.advisor | Abegaz, Assefa (PhD) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kindihun, Amelework | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-06-29T07:12:18Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-19T12:04:55Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-06-29T07:12:18Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-11-19T12:04:55Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-06 | |
| dc.description.abstract | A field study was conducted in Kumbursa village, Ada’a district, Central highland of Ethiopia to assess farmer’s perception of the status of soil fertility and the accompined management practices and then to compare the result with scientific criteria used by researchers.To address this issue, three farm wealth groups (rich, medium and poor) were distinguished based on farm size, number of oxen and grain stocks through stratified random sampling method. From a total of 277 households 83 Households were interviewed using structured questionnaire to gain insight into soil fertility management practices, local methods used to assess the fertility status of a field, and perceived trends in soil fertility. Farmers were asked to identify their most fertile, moderately fertile and infertile fields. Characteristics of the fields in terms of the indicators that were mentioned by the farmers in the interviews are recorded. The SPSS software has been used for data analysis. This study indicates that Farmer's local knowledge of soil fertilitystatus were based on observable plant and soil related characteristics namely; soil colour, soil texture, soil depth, crop productivity, soil water holding capacity, stoniness and difficulty to work. 30 soil samples were taken at a depth of 0-15 cm and15-30cm to characterize the fertility status of each soil types classified by farmers as fertile, moderately fertile and infertile. The soil sample analyses results indicated that the soil types perceived as fertile by farmers are in a favorable ranges of pH and clayey in texture with medium organic matter, medium organic carbon, medium total nitrogen and High available phosphorus,potassium and medium Sodium content and have good bulk densities than soils classified as moderately fertile and infertile. The overall result shows that there is good agreement between the soil physical and chemical analysis and farmers’ assessment of soil fertility status.Therefore, the study shows the importance of recognizing farmer’s knowledge and perception about assessment of soil fertility status to design more appropriate research and to facilitate clear communication with farmers. So inorder to design more appropriate research and to facilitate communication with farmers, researchers need to understand farmers’ perceptions and assessments of soil fertility status. Keywords: soil fertility, farmers’perceptions, indicators, soil color and texture | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/4890 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | en_US |
| dc.subject | Soil Fertility | en_US |
| dc.subject | Farmers’perceptions | en_US |
| dc.subject | Indicators | en_US |
| dc.subject | Soil Color and Texture | en_US |
| dc.title | Assessment of Farmers‘ Perception on the Status , Classification and Management Practices of Soil Fertility in Comparison to Scientific Practices: in the case of Ada‘a district, central highlands of Ethiopia | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |