Determination of soil organic carbon content of agricultural soils for proper soil management in Matazu and Musawa, Katsina State, Nigeria

Soil organic carbon is a significant parameter for estimating the global carbon cycle, which makes great sense in soil management and future climate scenario prediction.  This work uses 30 heterogeneous soil samples from agricultural and non-agricultural farmlands and soil erosion areas in Matazu and Musawa LGAs to determine soil organic carbon content at the field level in Matazu and Musawa Local Government Areas, Katsina State, Nigeria.  Soil samples were meticulously collected from the 0-10cm depth using a hand auger.  These samples were obtained from three distinct clusters: agricultural and non-agricultural farmlands and soil erosion areas.  The selection of sample locations considered the varied soil types, historical land use, and management practices.  Ten soil samples were randomly gathered within each cluster, ensuring a representative and diverse set of samples for analysis.  The Warlkey and Black and Hydrometer methods were used to determine the soils' organic carbon contents and particle size distribution, respectively.  The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 23 software.  Two-sample t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were carried out.  The soil organic carbon contents of the studied area were 0.29 ± 0.16 g/kg (0.16 – 0.34 g/kg) and 0.28 ± 0.14 g/kg (0.14 - 0.36 g/kg) for Matazu and Musawa, respectively.  The study concludes that the organic carbon content helps improve sustainable agricultural productivity due to proper and efficient land use management practices.