International Journal of Life Science and Agriculture Research

Increasing concern on the role of phosphorus in crop production across fields of agricultural research call for concern. This study assesses the effect of land use types on various forms of soil phosphorus in Gashua. Soil samples were collected across three different locations namely forested land (FL), bare land (BL), and cultivated land (CL) from 0–15 cm and 15-30cm depth. ANOVA was used to show the significant difference between the variables. The results from the study area showed Available phosphorus (A-P) with values ranging from 8.33 mg kg-1 to 8.57 mg kg-1. Bulk density remained stable 1.20-1.42 gcm-³, and pH values 6.60 - 7.40 indicated slightly alkaline conditions. Electrical conductivity (EC) varies between 0.09 - 0.19, suggesting low salinity. Organic carbon content of the study area ranged from 0.70% to 1.18%. Phosphorus fractions from the study revealed that calcium-phosphorus (Ca-P) was highest in forested regions with 20.63 mg kg-1 while iron-bond phosphorus (Fe-P) was higher in bare land with value of 14.84 mg kg-1. Aluminum-bound phosphorus (Al-P) recorded a maximum value of 143 mg kg-1 in cultivated land, and organic phosphorus (Or-P) recorded a maximum of 65.55 mg kg-1 in bared land. Total phosphorus (T-P) was higher in both cultivated land and bare-land with 143.85 mg kg-1 and 140.06 mg kg-1 and forested areas showed an appreciably decreased values of 98.27 mg kg-1. The study Concluded that there were no variations in A-P, Ca-P, and Fe-P throughout the land use types, while the Al-P and Or-P show higher variations.

Land use, Phosphorus forms, Gashua, Nigeria.

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