Abstract
The mining activities on Gorfo Mountain, West Zoa Zone, Ethiopia have considerably degraded the soil nutrients in the study area. Representative top soils from a depth of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm from farmland adjacent to mining area and far from mining area were collected to evaluate soil quality and crop productivity. The parameters analyzed were bulk density, moisture content, soil texture, pH, cation exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, soil organic matter, exchangeable bases, total nitrogen, and available phosphorous. Parameters such as days to emergence, plant height, leaf numbers per plant, dry and fresh weight of root, and shoot of maize crop were evaluated to assess the soil productivity in greenhouse experiments. The data generated were analyzed using SPSS statistical Software 16.0 version and compared the mean by T-test and one-way ANOVA. The bulk density, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus ranged between 2.09 and 1.14 g/cm3, 0.09 and 0.023%, and 39.1 meq/100 mg and meq/100 mg in mining area and far from mining area respectively. While the emergence of maize crop took 9 days in soils adjacent to mining area, it took only 8 days in soils far from mining area. Similarly, the plant height and leaf number were 0.78 m, 8 and 0.75 m, 7 respectively. The results showed that all the physico-chemical parameters and soil productivity were highly affected in soils of agriculture land adjacent to the mining area.
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Achalu, B., Pavanasam, N., Bekele, N. et al. Impact of gravel mining on agricultural soils at Gorfo Mountain, West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia. Arab J Geosci 16, 312 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11416-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11416-y