Assessment of surface water quality of inland valleys for cropping in SW Nigeria
Loading...
Date
2015-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Appl Water Sci
Abstract
Inland valley agro-ecosystems which are a
category of wetlands have potential for sustainable crop
production relative to uplands. A major challenge to their
utilisation in the study area is their heterogeneity in
hydrology, morphology, soil types and agro-economy. The
study assessed the surface water quality of three typologies
of the agro-ecosystems—amphitheatre-like valley-heads
(Am), valley-side (VS), and low depression (LD)—for
cropping. Surface water of six sites were sampled during
the wet and dry seasons. The physicochemical properties
and metal concentrations of the samples were analysed.
Descriptive statistics and water quality indices were used to
assess the suitability of the waters of the agro-ecosystems
for cropping. Results showed that the valleys have neutral
to slightly alkaline waters. Values of physicochemical
parameters are generally within the acceptable range for
cropping. The concentration of major cations varied across
the inland valley types, but exhibited similar characteristics
within each valley. The dominance of the major cations is
in the order of Na [Ca [K[Mg. ANOVA results
indicated that there is no significant difference in the
concentration of heavy metals across the valleys
(F=2.044, p=0.138, a=0.05). Generally, most of the
physicochemical parameters and trace metals have low
concentrations and are non-toxic to plants. Values of water
quality indices (sodium adsorption ratio, soluble sodium
percentage, total dissolved solids and permeability index)
indicated that the concentrations of minerals in waters
across the valley typologies are generally within permis-
sible limits for cropping.
Description
International journal of Appl Water Sci, Issue no:2015, Pg. (1-10).
Keywords
Inland valley, Irrigation, Wetland, Water quality indices, Agriculture, Food security