dc.description.abstract | Monoculture is a common farming practice in most farming households that causes undesirable
effects on the quality of soil. Legumes as a crop species are being used for soil productivity
improvement, given the fact that they fix nitrogen into the soils and nitrogen being one of the
essential crop nutrients. Analysis of the impacts of these legumes, in this case soybean crop,
will provide a better understanding of the net effect of the repeated cultivation of this crop on
the soil physical and chemical properties, hence how the fertility and productivity of the soils
maybe affected. This study was done with the aim of establishing the effects of the practice of
soybean monoculture on soil physical and chemical properties subsequently the productivity
of the soils. The study was carried out on a farmer’s field of about six acres of land in Gulu
district. The experiment was carried out in two planting seasons with a look at the previous soil
conditions before cultivation. Data was collected on Nitrogen, available P, Organic Matter,
exchangeable bases (Na+, Ca2+ and K+) and soil structure and analyzed using the IBM SPSS
Statistical Data Editor. There were significant differences showing reductions in the levels of
soil physical and chemical properties between the seasons with the exception of Na which
remained constant throughout the experiment. For the soil structure, there was a positive
correlation with the stated hypothesis, where there was a significant reduction in the soil
structure quality between the pre-planting and the first and second seasons, the first and the
second seasons were rather constant. N, P, K and OM together had similar variations in between
the seasons where the differences between the pre-planting and the first seasons of cultivation
were not significant. Soil pH was contrary to the values of the other properties, in that the
difference between the pre-planting season is significant with the first season of soybean
cultivation, and in turn not significant with the second season of planting. Na throughout the
experiment remains constant without any significant change. Ca follows a similar trend as the
results of soil structure. According to the results, soybean monoculture is shown to be
detrimental to the soil properties hence soil beneficial practices such as intercropping,
fertilisation etc. are recommended. | en_US |