Characterization and prioritization of watersheds has gained importance for proper planning and management of natural resources in sustainable development. Implementation of management practices over a larger area at the same time is inaccessible and uneconomical. So, it has required applying a viable technique for prioritization of critical sub-watersheds. Thus, the present study was aimed to prioritizing erosion-prone sub-watersheds using morphometric analysis. Advanced space-borne thermal emission and reflection radiometer of 30m resolution DEM has used to generate drainage networks and delineation of sub-watersheds using ArcGIS software. The important derived morphometric parameters have computed on the base of already developed mathematical formulae and methods. The study area (a watershed) has classified into seven interesting sub-watersheds, which have ordered SW1–SW7. The very important quantitative watershed aspects such as linear, relief and areal have been taken in consideration, and eighteen morphometric parameters have been selected and used for ranking and prioritizing of sub-watersheds. In this regard, sub-watersheds (SW7, SW3 and SW4) and (SW5, SW6 and SW2) have categorized into higher and medium priorities, whereas sub-watershed (SW1) has assigned at lower priority. This implied that SW1 is relatively sustainable than others, on the contrary, SW7 is relatively affected sub-watershed by runoff and soil erosion that needs first priority for management practices. Therefore, the study proposes a useful soil and water conservation practices such as bunds, check dams, micro-basins and multipurpose tree species planting based on suitable location and design parameters. The decision makers should optimally allocate the investments according to this final priority. And it has required to monitor and evaluate due to environmental sound, economical viable and socially acceptable. Also it has required developing an integrated approach for characterizing and prioritizing of sub-watersheds.

Land use change causes a remarkable change in soil properties. The nature of change depends on multiple factors such as soil type, type and intensity of land use, climate, and the like. It is essential to study and understand how these factors interact and affect soil properties. In this study, we investigated the variation in soil physicochemical properties across five common land use practices, i.e. enset system, farmland, and grazing-land (closed and open), and Eucalyptus woodlots practiced on originally same soil type and comparable topographic and climatic settings. A total of 105 soil samples from three depths of 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm, and 30–45 cm were collected and analyzed for selected soil physicochemical properties. The results showed significant differences between the land uses in soil physical and chemical properties. Enset system had higher pH, available phosphorus (P), exchangeable potassium (K⁺), soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (TN) and their stocks than other land use types. Further, the widely accepted notion of the alleged effects of Eucalyptus tree on soil nutrient composition was not demonstrated in this study except its lower pH of (5.61) and soil moisture contents of (26.14%) than other land use types over 15–20 years old. SOC stocks showed a decreasing trend of enset system (127.36 Mg ha⁻¹) > closed grazing land (108.07 Mg ha⁻¹) > eucalyptus woodlot (92.55 Mg ha⁻¹) > open grazing-land (88.57 Mg ha⁻¹) > cereal farm (76.65 Mg ha⁻¹) at 0–45 cm soil depth, implying the potential of enset system for climate changes mitigation. TN was also measured in the same trend. Overall, some land use systems (e. g. enset agroforestry) improve the soil biophysical and chemical properties, while others such as cereal production degrade the soil. The low input continuous cultivation of cereal farm land coupled with its poor soil conservation measures in the area could be the major factors for the depletion of soil nutrient in cereal farming. Hence, future soil management strategies should be focused on mitigating the continuous loss of soil nutrients from the dominantly practiced cereal cropping system through the retention of crop residues, practice of crop rotation and scaling-up agro-forestry practice.

Understanding soil property and crop yield responses to variations in land use and topographic gradient is vital for designing targeted soil and agronomic management practices. This study investigated the interrelationships between land use, topographic position, soil properties, and crop yield. Three replicates of three land use types - enset agroforestry, cropland (annual crop), and grazing land - were selected along a toposequence (upper, middle and lower) for the study. A total of 54 composite soil samples were collected and analyzed. Grain yield and above ground biomass were also gathered from the cropland and analyzed. Soil profile descriptions revealed notable variations in soil physical properties, including soil texture, bulk density, color, horizons, and depth among the pedons of the three topographic positions. Clay and silt fractions exhibited significant differences between land uses and topographic positions, while the sand fraction was influenced by topographic position alone. Crop and grazing lands displayed higher clay content compared to the enset field. A decreasing trend in clay fraction was observed from upper to lower topographic positions. The enset field had significantly higher soil pH, OC, TN, and K+ contents than crop field. A significantly higher available P of 16.61 mg kg⁻¹ was measured from lower slope position followed by 14.08 mg kg⁻¹ in middle slope. The upper slope position had the highest exchangeable acidity of 3.09 cmol(+) kg⁻¹), followed by middle slope with 2.77 cmol(+) kg⁻¹), 2.45 cmol(+) kg⁻¹) in the lower slope position. Grain yield and above ground biomass decreased from lower slope to middle slope and upper slope positions. These observed variations in soil properties and crop yield among land uses and topographic positions underscore the necessity for tailored soil management strategies and agronomic practices specific to land use types and the specific localized topographic conditions to optimize agricultural productivity.

We studied the effects of Acacia albida on the growth and yield of wheat, maize, and teff with increasing distance from trees in Ethiopia in the 2014/2015 cropping season. The treatments comprised four radial distances of 1.5m, 3.5m, 5.5m, and 12.5m as a control away from the tree with three replications. Results showed that higher wheat yields were recorded at 5.5m and 3.5m than at 12.5m, with yield increments of 11 and 12%, respectively compared to 12.5m. The highest maize yield was obtained from 3.5m, with a yield advantage of 12.3% compared to 12.5m. Teff yield increased with increasing distance from the tree trunk. Wheat and maize yield gains near the canopies may be associated with higher organic matter and soil nutrients, while their yield reduction with decreasing distance from the tree may be associated with the shading effect of tree canopies. Wheat was the most compatible crop when integrated with A. albida under shade conditions followed by maize, while teff was highly susceptible to shading effect. We suggest that integrating A. albida with the right crops and appropriate tree management could enhance crop yield. Lopping is required before sowing teff and maize with A. albida to minimize shading effects

Soil acidity is one of the major crop production constraints in the highlands of Ethiopia. Liming is becoming a common practice to amend soil acidity, but its effects on soil properties, crop yield, and farm income are not well studied. In this study, an on-farm liming experiment was conducted for two consecutive years (2020-2021) on acidic Nitisols (pH<5.5) in Southern Ethiopia. The experiment consisted of six liming rates (control, 2.74, 4.11, 5.48, 6.85, and 8.22tha⁻¹) laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Soil, agronomic, and economic data were collected in 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons and analyzed. The application of lime in the ranges of 2.748.22tha⁻¹ increased soil pH by 0.461.25 units and reduced exchangeable acidity by 2.023.17 units. Higher lime rates of 6.858.22tha⁻¹ increased soil pH sharply from 5.22 to 5.99 and 6.46, respectively, but such a rise in soil pH was not proportionally reflected in the yield increment. Higher available phosphorus contents of 7.16 and 6.01mgkg⁻¹ were measured at the liming rates of 4.11 and 5.48tha⁻¹, respectively. Combined over the two years, 5.45tha⁻¹ lime application yielded the highest barley total biomass of 19,199kgha⁻¹ and a grain yield of 4,328kgha⁻¹, which are 46 and 30 higher than those of the control, respectively. It also yielded the highest marginal rate of return of 477 and a gross margin of 192,857.3ETB¹ha⁻¹, which is 53 higher than the control. Based on our results, 5.45tha⁻¹ of lime appears to have the optimal rate for economically viable barley production in the study area or similar environments.