Author： Szilas Casper Peter Møberg Jens Borggaard Ole Semoka Johnson
Publisher： Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISSN： 0906-4710
Source： Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, B, Vol.55, Iss.4, 2005-12, pp. : 241-251
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Abstract
Crop production in Tanzania depends on the natural soil fertility, which, in turn, is dependent on soil mineralogy. The mineralogical composition of ten widely distributed, well-drained upland soils from important agricultural areas of different ecological zones in the sub-humid to humid parts of Tanzania was determined by means of X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and chemical analyses. All soils were found to be severely weathered with limited but variable capacity to hold and release nutrients in plant available form and to sustain low input subsistence agriculture. Tentatively the soils may be arranged in the following order according to decreasing fertility based on their mineralogy: Msimba > Ukiriguru > Lubonde > Igabiro≈Magadu≈Mlingano≈Nkundi≈Suluti > Mpangala > Sasanda. However, the high phosphate adsorption capacity of the last two soils formed from volcanic material makes a comparison with the other soils difficult.
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