رسالة جامعية

Sociol-economic and agronomic factors influencing soil erosion in the Masinga Dam catchment, Kenya

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Sociol-economic and agronomic factors influencing soil erosion in the Masinga Dam catchment, Kenya
المؤلفون: Mutisya, Dorothy Nduku
المساهمون: Mutiso, S. K., Wamicha, W. N.
سنة النشر: 2012
المجموعة: Kenyatta University Repository
مصطلحات موضوعية: Soil erosion--Social conditions--Kenya//Soil erosion--Economic conditions--Kenya//Agronomy--Kenya
الوصف: The QE 576. M8 ; This research examines agronomic and socio-economic factors influencing soil erosion in the Masinga dam catchments. The study addresses soil erosion from a human point of view as opposed to the common and widespread ''physical approach'' that has in the past been used by many scientists. The following two null hypotheses formed the basis of this research; (i). There is no significant difference in the amount of soil loss between farms under different agronomic practices; and (ii). There is no significant difference in socio economic status between farmers whose farms are experiencing less and severe soil erosion in the study. Three sets of data including socio economic, agronomic and soil loss were collected from Kaihungu and Mathauti Sub-catchments in the Upper and Lower parts of the Masinga Dam Catchments. A questionnaire was used in the collection of the socio economic data and part of the agronomic data. Crop cover was estimated by visual observation while crop density was calculated from crop spacing measurements taken in the field. Soil loss data was collected using 26 soil traps during the Long and Short Rainy Seasons of 1992. Composite topsoil samples were collected from the upper decimeter of 26 sites. These were used in the determination of soil texture and fertility. Two non-parametric tests namely, Chi-square (X2) and Mann-Whitney U test analysis, there was not a significant difference in the amount of soil loss between farms under different crops and cropping patterns. That is, soil loss was high in farms where monocropping or intercropping was practiced. Similarly, soil loss was high in farms with medium crop density as well as in those with low and medium crop densities. The explanation for these findings is that none of the sampled farmers practiced a combination of all the required appropriate agronomic measures. Many of them adopted one or a few of the good agronomic measures thus making soils vulnerable to agents of erosion. The Chi-square (x2) results reveal that a large ...
نوع الوثيقة: thesis
اللغة: English
العلاقة: http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/4168Test
الإتاحة: http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/4168Test
رقم الانضمام: edsbas.85E113EE
قاعدة البيانات: BASE