Soils and Urban Land Use Planning: a Case Study of Makurdi Urban Centre, Benue State of Nigeria

Frequent cases of human displacement, loss of properties and sometimes lives caused by seasonal floods in Makurdi Urban Centre in recent times necessitated a pedological investigation on the soils of the town. Six soil profile pits were sunk in selected areas of Makurdi, two in the high lying area of Makurdi North Bank and four others in the low lying areas of the South Bank settlement. The investigation revealed that the soils of North Bank were well drained with sandy loam surface texture underlain by sandy clay loam subsurface, while those of the low lying South Bank were poorly to very poorly drained with predominantly Sandy Clay Loam surface textures underlain with clay loam to clay subsurfaces. The bulk density values of the well-drained soils were higher (1.50gmcm-3) than those of the poorly drained soils (1.38gmcm-3) at their subsurface horizons. The very poor drainage of the South Bank signifies that water table remains above soil surface for some periods of most years. The chemical properties of the soils revealed that the low-lying soils of Makurdi South Bank were rich in plant nutrients, having high organic carbon (2.2 – 2.58%), total nitrogen (0.28 – 0.31%), available phosphorus (9.00 – 12.8mgkg-1), exchangeable bases (6.06 – 8.89cmolkg-1), cation exchange capacity (7.06 – 10.15cmolkg-1), base saturation (75-94%) and pH (6.48 – 6.85). The well drained upland soils of North Bank classified as Typic Paleustalfs/Eutric Luvisols while those of South Bank classified as Typic Endoqualfs, Arenic Endoqualfs/Gleyic Luvisols and Arenic Endoaquent//Eutric Gleysol. The high fertility status coupled with the aquic soil moisture regime qualify the low-lying soils as unique agricultural soils, capable of supporting both rainfed and dry season croppings. These soils are recommended for urban agriculture, especially dry season vegetable farming and aquaculture. The application of these soils for residential and industrial uses with yearly tales of woes should be discouraged.