Soil and Land Suitability Assessment for Rice Cultivation at Tono Irrigation Area in the Upper East Region, Ghana

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the livelihood supports for the people of Upper East Region of Ghana. Soil evaluation research was conducted at Tono Irrigation Scheme to assess soil and land suitability for rice cultivation in the irrigable area of Tono Irrigation Scheme. A total of eleven (11) soil samples were collected and analysed for their chemical and physical properties. Based on field observation and criteria for soil suitability assessment, the different soil types that were identified were classified at the series level based on their position, parent material and the observed physical characteristics. The results indicated that the pH of the soils was within the acceptable range for crop production; however, the overall fertility level of the soils was very low. Physically, the upland soils were well to moderately well-drained, consisting of coarse-grained sandy loams topsoil overlying similar sandy loams and sandy clay loams at depth. They included Leptosols and Lixisols. The soils of the Scheme under lowlands and valley bottom sites, however, included Eutric Gleysol, Calsic Vertisol, Eutric Fluvisol and Eutric Plinthosol, which were heavily textured and relatively poor drained, or medium-textured and moderately to imperfectly well-drained. They showed a low to a very low rate of water percolation losses, which is good for the current farming system of cropping rice within the lowlands and valley bottom sites of the Scheme.