ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of land use, cropping systems and soil management practices on restoration of degraded soils in western Nigeria. It also examines site-specific data on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and soil quality changes for identifying strategies to restore soils for C sequestration and productivity enhancement. The rate of depletion of SOC in soils of the tropics is exacerbated by the onset of soil degradative processes including decline in soil structure leading to crusting/compaction and accelerated runoff and erosion, reduction in soil biotic activity, and leaching of bases and depletion of soil fertility. Soil and plant yield data were analyzed for the analysis of variance using a completely randomized design. Soil chemical quality of 0–20 cm depth, as determined by complete analyses of soil data at the end of the fifth year of cultivation. The rate of decomposition of SOC pool is higher in the tropics than in the temperate climate because of high mean annual temperature.
