Fertility Status of Soils Obtained from Coastal Plain Soils and Inland Transition Formations

The study was conducted to investigate the fertility status of coastal plain and inland transition soils in South-south and South west of Nigeria. Soil morphological characterization and sampling were obtained from the coastal plain area at Lagos Island and environs, while the Inland transition soils were obtained at Obaretin near Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Laboratory analyses of selected physico-chemical properties were conducted using standard methods. The results obtained were subjected to statistical analyses using SPSS version 16. The results obtained showed that the soils from the coastal plain area were generally, slightly acidic with a mean pH of 4.5 ± 0.4 while the Inland transition soils were slightly alkaline with a mean pH of 8.2 ± 1.1. Total organic carbon in both locations were 6.50 ± 1.90 g/kg for Lagos Island and environs and 10.0 ± 3.0 g/kg for Obaretin respectively. They were both low. Similarly, the mean value of other basic macro nutrient elements are 0.40 ± 1.0 g/kg for nitrogen in Lagos Island and environs and 0.80 ± 3.0 for nitrogen in Obaretin, while phosphorous had a mean of 52.39 ± 35.0 meg/kg in Lagos Island and environs and Obaretin had 20.77 ± 14.41 meg/kg. Also, the mean value of potassium were 0.03 ± 0.01 meg/kg for Lagos Island and 0.11 ± 0.04 meg/kg for Obaretin respectively. The values were low with the exception of phosphorous when compared with the recommended standard. This suggests poor soil fertility that may require occasional inorganic and organic fertilization to conserve the soils and high crop productivity on sustainable basis when the coastal and inland transitions are transformed into intensive agro-ecosystem.