World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

ISSN 1817-3047
IDOSI Publications, 2012
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjas.2012.8.6.1686

Effects of Liming on Acidity-Related Chemical Properties of

Soils of Different Land Use Systems in Western Oromia, Ethiopia
1

Achalu Chimdi, 2Heluf Gebrekidan, 2Kibebew Kibret and 3Abi Tadesse

Wollega University, P. O. Box 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia

Haramaya University, School of Natural Resources Management and
Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
3
Haramaya University, College of Computational and Natural Sciences,
P.O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
1

Abstract: Soil acidity is one of the major limiting factors to acid sensitive crop production in the western areas
of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. A Greenhouse incubation experiment was employed on soils of three land use
systems to assess the effects of six lime rates and two lime particle sizes on acidity related soil chemical
properties after incubation for 90 days. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance using SAS
software. The interactions effects between lime rates and soils from different land use systems significantly
affected soil pH and exchangeable acidity. However, the three way interactions between lime rates, lime particle
sizes and soils from different land use systems on these soil properties were not significantly different.
Increasing lime rates for both lime particle sizes relatively increased soil pH and exchangeable bases thereby
reducing the magnitude of soil acidity, exchangeable acidity and Al saturation. However, applied liming rates
with 100 mesh size were relatively more effective in reducing acidity-related soil properties and increasing soil
pH. When considering the average of acid saturation percentage across the lime particle sizes, incubation of
soil with lime reduced the acid saturation percentage from 9.8 in the 0 t ha 1 to 0.8% at 10 t ha 1 lime rate in the
forest land and similarly from 15.8 to 3.6% in grazing and from 54.7 to 22.3% reduction in acid saturation
percentage in cultivated land. Thus, incubation of soil with applied lime rate at 10 t ha 1 showed considerable
drop of the acid saturation percentage and reduced soil acidity thereby increasing soils pH and available P in
soils of the three land uses.
Key words: Acidic soil

Aluminum saturation

Land use

INTRODUCTION

Lime rates

Soil properties

nutrients and the toxicity of aluminum (Al), manganese

(Mn) and hydrogen (H) ions in the soil to plant
physiological processes [1-4].
Soil nutrient depletion due to erosion and leaching of
basic cations from the agro-ecosystem is also a very wide
spread crop production constraint in Ethiopia [5 and 6].
Studies conducted by [7 and 8] also reported that, due to
acidic nature of the soil, most of the soils of the highlands
of Ethiopia are deficient in their inherent total available
P contents. In order to get sustainability to crop
production and reasonable yield, acidic soils have to be
corrected by addition of agricultural lime to a pH range
which is suitable for better yield of crop production [9].

Soil acidity is one of the major limiting factors to acid

sensitive crop production in the western highland areas
of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is often developed in
regions where excessive rainfall coupled with unfavorable
temperature and precipitation is high enough to leach
appreciable amounts of exchangeable basic ions like
calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and
potassium (K) from the surface of soil. Its severity is
extremely variable due to the effects of parent materials,
land form, vegetation and climate pattern. Its effects on
crop growth are those related to the deficiency of major
Corresponding Author:

Lime particle sizes

Achalu Chimdi, Wollega University, P. O. Box 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia.

Tel: +251-911151087, Fax +251-576617980.

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World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

teff (Eragrostis tef), barley (Hordeum vulgare L),

maize (Zea mays L.) and potato (Solanum tubersoum L.).
These major crops are produced usually once in a year.

Agricultural liming material is the most common soil

management practice whose addition to agricultural soil
in moderate amounts may be beneficial as plant nutrients,
minimize soil acidification. Measuring lime requirement
and estimating the level of acid saturation together with
exchangeable acidity are the most common methods to
alleviate soil acidity constraints to crop production and to
modify soils fertility status [9, 10]. The study investigated
the effects of the application of different rates and particle
sizes of the agricultural lime on acidity related chemical
properties of acidic soil of different land use systems.

Soil Sampling: Three major representative land use types

(natural forest, grazing and cultivated lands) were
identified from the Guto Gida District of East Wollega
Zone. Composite surface (0-20 cm) soil samples were
collected from representative site of each land use system
and air dried, grounded and passed through a 2 mm sieve
for laboratory analysis selected chemical properties.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Soil and Lime Collection for Incubation Experiment:

Two kilograms of composite soil samples were collected
from top soil (0-20 cm) depth of each land use system.
The soils were air dried, grounded and sieved through a
2 mm for establishment of greenhouse incubation
experiment. The soil-lime mixture was stirred every seven
days to uniformly mix the agricultural liming material with
the soil in a clean plastic bag. Calcium carbonate
equivalent of the lime was determined by acid
neutralization method at the Chemistry Laboratory of
Ambo University and found to be 93.7%. Each of the
experimental pot was wetted and rewetted every three
days regularly to maintain approximately the field
capacity. The incubation experiment was finalized at
exactly 90 days counting from the first time at which
the soil lime mixture had been wetted to field capacity of
the soil.

Study Site: The study was conducted in the Guto Gida

District (East Wollega Zone) of Oromia Regional State,
western highlands of Ethiopia (Figure 1). The District is
situated at a road distance of 320 km from the capital,
Addis Ababa, within 0859 and 0906` north latitude and
3709` and 3751` east longitude.
According to the local and the Ethiopian agro-climatic
zonation [11] the study area belongs to the humid
(Baddaa) and sub-humid (Badda Darree) climatic zones.
As per the climate data recorded at the Nekemte
Meteorological Station, the ten years average annual
rainfall of the study site is 1300 mm and the monthly mean
minimum and maximum temperatures range between
11.25 and 14.50 and 25.00 and 29.00C respectively.
The topography of the study site is mountainous and
has a gentle sloping landscape. According to FAO [12]
classification, the soil class of most of the study area is
Nitosols. The economic activities of the local society of
the study area are primarily mixed farming system
that involves animal husbandry and crop production.
The major crops are coffee (Coffee arabica L.),

Design of the Experimental Soils: A greenhouse

incubation experiment was employed by mixing different
proportions of liming rates, lime particle sizes and 2 kg of
soil in three-way factorial combination of three land use
systems, six rates (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 t ha 1) of lime and

Fig. 1: Location map of the study area

561

World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

two particle sizes (50 and 100 mesh sizes) of lime as

treatments. The experiment was then laid down in a
randomized
complete
block design with three
replications.

combinations and the Sigma Plot software version 8.0 was

used to reveal the magnitudes and directions of
relationship between different soil properties within and
among land use systems.

Laboratory Analysis of Soil Samples: The soil pH was

measured potentiometrically with a digital pH meter in the
supernatant suspension of 1:2.5 soils to water ratio [13].
Soil organic carbon content was determined by the
dichromate oxidation method and organic matter content
was estimated from the organic carbon content by
multiplying the latter by 1.724. Total N was determined
using the micro-Kjeldahl digestion, distillation and
titration procedure as described by Bremner and
Mulvaney [14]. Soils available P was extracted by the
Bray-II method [15] were quantified using
spectrophotometer (wave length of 880
m)
colorimetrically using vanadomolybedate acid as an
indicator.
Exchangeable basic (Ca, Mg, K and Na) ions were
extracted using 1 M ammonium acetate (NH4OAc)
solution at pH 7. The extracts of Ca and Mg ions were
determined using AAS while K and Na were determined
by flame photometer. To determine the cation exchange
capacity (CEC), the soil samples were first leached with 1
M NH4OAc, washed with ethanol and the adsorbed
ammonium was replaced by sodium [16]. The CEC was
then measured titrimetrically by distillation of ammonia
that was displaced by Na following the micro- Kjeldahl
procedure. Total exchangeable acidity was determined by
saturating the soil samples with 1M KCl solution and
titrating with 0.02M HCl as described by Rowell [17].
From the same extract, exchangeable Al in the soil was
titrating with a standard solution of 0.02M HCl. The soil
percent base saturation (PBS) was calculated from sum of
the basic exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K and Na) as the
percentage of CEC.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effects of Lime Rates on Selected Soil Chemical
Properties: The mean of soils pH in the forest, grazing
and cultivated lands after the 90 days incubation,
respectively, ranged from 5.26, 5.16 and 4.56 in the
control (no lime) to 5.88, 5.80 and 5.72 in soil
incubated with 10 t ha 1 lime were applied. Considering
the average values of soil pH across lime particle sizes,
application of lime at the rate of 10 t ha 1 increased the pH
in soils of forest land from pH of 5.26 with (no lime) and
5.36 (with 2 t ha-+1 of lime) to 5.87 with increments of about
10.4 and 8.7%, respectively. Similarly, application of lime
at the rate of 10 t ha 1 increased the pH of soils from
pH of 5.16 (with no lime) and 5.36 (with 2 t ha 1 of lime)
to 5.80 with increments of respectively, about 9.3 and
7.6% in grazing land. However, in cultivated land, it
increased the soil pH from pH 4.57 with (no lime) and
4.86 with (2 t ha 1of lime) to 5.72 with increments of about
20 and 15%, respectively. These raises in the average
values of soil pH of the experimental soils attributed to the
better neutralization of the saturated Al 3+ by agricultural
liming material.
Effects of Lime Rates and Land Use Types on Soil
Properties: The main effects of applied lime rates, land
use systems and the interactions between lime rates and
soils from different land use systems were very highly
significantly (P < 0.001) affected the soil pH, exchangeable
Al, exchangeable acid and available P. The output of the
mean square estimate and the interaction effects between
all lime rates and land use systems at the end of the
90 days incubation experiment showed that, soil pH,
exchangeable Al, exchangeable acid and available
P of each land use system responded highly significant
(P < 0.001) changes to different lime rates but
insignificantly (P > 0.05) to lime particle sizes and with the
interaction between lime rates and lime particle sizes.
Similarly, results of the three way interaction effects
between lime particle sizes, lime rates and soils from
different land use systems showed numerically no
significant (P > 0.05) changes on the above mentioned soil
properties (Tables 1 and 2).

Data Recording and Statistical Analysis: From the

composite soil samples of each land use type, soil pH,
available P, CEC, exchangeable bases, exchangeable Al
and exchangeable acidities were analyzed every 30 days
and finally percent Al saturation was calculated at the
initial and final stage of the incubation experiment.
Data recorded were subjected to analysis of variance
using SAS software version 9.1 SAS Institute [18].
Duncans Multiple Range Test was employed to test
significant differences between means of treatment
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World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

Table 1: Mean square estimates for soil pH, exchangeable Al, exchangeable acid and available P as analyzed using randomized complete block design on different land use systems
Mean squares for sources of variations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Soil properties

LR (5)

LPS (1)

LU (2)

LR*LPS (5)

LPS*LU (2)

LR*LU (10)

LR*LPS*LU (10)

Error (70)

CV (%)

pH (H2O)
Exchangeable Al (cmol(+) kg 1)

1.56***
21.37***

0.008**
0.014ns

1.18***
348.18***

0.001ns
0.016ns

0.000ns
0.054ns

0.11***
2.59***

0.0001ns
0.016ns

0.03
0.19

0.6
7.1

Exchangeable acid (cmol(+) kg 1)

Available P (mg kg 1)

34.33***
10.42***

0.002ns
0.002ns

396.56***
174.93***

0.003ns
0.0019ns

0.011ns
0.016ns

2.31***
0.80***

0.04ns
0.01ns

0.14
0.09

3.7
1.5

Number in parentheses = Degrees of freedom; LR = Lime rate; LU = Land use; LPS = Lime particle size; CV = Coefficient of variation, *, **and *** = Significant at P
at P

0.05; P

0.01 and

0.001, ns = Non significant

Table 2: Interaction effects of lime rates and land use systems on soil pH, exchangeable Al, exchangeable acid and available P

Lime rate (t ha 1)

Land use types

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Forest land
Grazing land
Cultivated land

0
2
4
6
8
10

5.25j
5.36i
5.48h
5.57ef
5.65d
5.88a

0
2
4
6
8
10

1.40h
0.95i
0.66j
0.34k
0.20k
0.095k

Exchangeable Al (cmol(+) kg 1)
3.10f
1.93g
1.42h
0.91i
0.32k
0.21k

9.62a
6.68b
5.70c
5.70c
5.34d
4.83e

0
2
4
6
8
10

2.82o
2.43j
1.75l
1.06n
0.75o
0.25p

Exchangeable acid (cmol(+) kg 1)

3.76g
3.42h
2.66i
2.02k
1.54m
0.92f

10.52a
9.74b
9.49c
6.78d
6.11e
5.23a

0
2
4
6
8
10

7.40e
7.71d
7.77d
7.88c
8.29b
8.43a

pH (H2O)
5.15k
5.36i
5.44h
5.55fg
5.61e
5.81b

4.56n
4.85n
5.07l
5.47h
5.52g
5.72c

Available P (mg kg 1)
5.20j
5.59i
6.12h
6.76g
7.14f
7.38e

4.11p
4.160
4.31n
4.83m
4.85l
5.16k

Interaction means with same letter in same column of each soil parameters and land use system are not significantly different at (P < 0.05).

Relatively, liming materials of finer particle sizes are

more effective in reclaiming and increasing soil pH across
all land use systems of soils. This is attributed to the
greater neutralization effects with small particle sizes of
agricultural lime and in agreement with the finding
reported by the soil survey staff [20]. Increasing fineness
of liming material increases the total surface area
exposed to soil acidity thereby accelerating the rates
of neutralization effects of Al3+ and H+ ions in the
soil solution. The finer the liming material, the more
quickly it will react with the soil. However, the
magnitude of the alteration of the soil pH due to liming

was not uniform and appreciably varied with lime rate

and in small extent with lime particle size. Similarly, other
researcher [1, 19] reported that reclaiming acid soils by
agricultural liming material increased the soil pH which
is mainly due to the neutralization of Al ion in the soil
solution by hydroxyl (OH-) ion furnished by the
hydrolysis reaction of the agricultural liming material
added to the soils. The regression analysis of the
soils (Table 3) indicated positive and linear relationship
between applied lime particle sizes and the soil pH of
the different land use systems. The agricultural lime
applied to acidic soils has increased soil pH thereby
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World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

Table 3: Regression equations for prediction of lime requirement as affected by particle sizes of applied lime with soil pH

LPS

Forest land *
----------------------------------------------------------Equation
R2

Grazing land*
----------------------------------------------Equation
R2

Cultivated land*
-------------------------------------------Equation
R2

50
100

Y=0.002x2+ 0.036x+5.26
Y=0.001x2+ 0.040x+5.26

Y=0.058x+ 5.196
Y=0.059x+ 5.190

Y=0.12x+ 4.60
Y=0.10x+ 4.73

0.957
0.973

0.925
0.954

0.964
0.669

Y* = Lime rate (t ha 1); x = pH unit, LPS= lime particle size

Table 4: Regression equations for prediction of soil lime requirement as affected by liming with 50 and 100 mesh lime particle sizes from soil exchangeable
acidity

LPS

Forest land *
----------------------------------------------------------Equation
R2

Grazing land*
----------------------------------------------Equation
R2

Cultivated land*
-------------------------------------------Equation
R2

50
100

Y= -0.259x+ 2.74
Y=- 0.269x+ 2.84

Y=-0.297x+3.851
Y=-0.529x+3.832

Y=-0.529x+10.43
Y=-0.530x+10.44

0.987
0.981

Y*= Lime rate (t ha 1) x = Exchangeable acidity in cmol (+) kg

0.987
0.989

0.970
0.968

of soil, LPS= Lime particle size

improving the soil chemical condition. However, chemical

test to determine how much lime is needed in a particular
soil is very important.

also reported that incubation of the soil with various

liming materials for 30 days generally reduced
exchangeable acidity among which CaCO3 used as a
liming material showed up to 68% reduction of
exchangeable acidity of the soils.

Effects of Incubation Time with Different Lime Rates on

Soil Properties: Except slight variation between the
30 and 60 days of incubation periods, the soil pH with
100 mesh size limes across each land use system attains
its maximum value at 90 days of incubation. For both the
50 and 100 mesh size lime, the maximum variations in the
soil pH of the experimental soil with the same treatment
recorded at the end of incubation experiment was about
0.07 units. The study also observed that liming of acidic
soil have positive effect and enhanced soil pH, PBS, CEC,
exchangeable bases, thereby is reducing the strength of
soil acidity, exchangeable acidity and Al saturation.
The increase in soil pH, reduction in acid saturation after
liming across each land use system coincides with the
finding of [10].
Results of the present study indicated that untreated
soils (0 t ha 1) under each land use system were acidic
and resulted in high exchangeable Al and percent
acid saturation. Application of different rates of lime
for 30, 60 and 90 days incubation experiments reduces
the strength of soil acidity, levels and severity of
exchangeable acidity and Al saturation in soils.
However, except slight variation with the 30 days
incubation periods it attains its minimum value at 90
days of the incubation. When considering the average
of lime particle sizes, incubation of soil at lime rate of 10 t
ha 1 with agricultural liming material for 30 and 90 showed
insignificant variation in reducing the soil exchangeable
acidity of each land use system. However, the 90 days
incubation numerically showed better reduction of
exchangeable acidity for soils of each land use systems.
Study by Effiong and Okon [21] made on cultivated land

Effects of Lime Rates and Particle Sizes on Exchangeable

Acidity: Result of the present finding indicate that, the
exchangeable acidity in soils of forest, grazing and
cultivated lands, respectively, ranged from 2.79, 3.71 and
10.52 cmol(+) kg 1 in the control to 0.26, 0.92 and
5.26 cmol(+) kg 1 in the pots where 10 t ha 1 of 100 mesh
lime particle sizes was applied. The decrease in soil
exchangeable acidity due to the interaction effect between
applied lime rate and lime particle sizes in forest, grazing
and cultivated lands, respectively, ranged from 0.4, 0.32
and 0.84 cmol(+) kg 1 with 2 t ha 1 of 50 mesh lime particle
sizes to 2.53, 2.79 and 5.26 cmol(+) kg 1 with 10 t ha 1 of
100 mesh size agricultural lime. Considering the average
of lime particle sizes, application of lime at the rate of
10 t ha 1 decreased the soil exchangeable acidity of
forest land from 2.80 in the control and 2.43 (with 2 t ha 1
of lime) to 0.26 cmol(+) kg 1 with decrement in
exchangeable acidity of about 13.2 and 90.7%,
respectively. Similarly, when the exchangeable acidity due
to application of lime rate of 2 and 10 t ha 1 compared with
the control, the decrement in the exchangeable acidity
was about 7.8 and 75.6% in soils of grazing land and 7.5
and 50.3% in soils of cultivated land, respectively. The
functional relationship between exchangeable acidity and
lime rate with different particle sizes in the prediction of
lime requirement also indicate that, the lime requirement
increases linearly with increasing exchangeable acidity.
The decrease in soil exchangeable acidity with increasing
lime particle size is indicated by the regression equation
(Table 4).
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World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

Across each land use system, the severity and levels

of exchangeable acidity and Al saturation in the soil
decreased with increasing rate of applied lime and
increasing lime particle sizes used for liming.
Considering the treatments for both 50 and 100 mesh
sizes lime, across each land use type, there were no
appreciable
differences in the saturations of
exchangeable Al and exchangeable acidity on the
exchange complexes. This negligible difference between
the lime particle sizes of same lime treatment attributed
to the absence of the significant effects between lime
fineness in reducing the exchangeable acid and Al in the
soil solutions.

unavailable P which was previously fixed with Al and Fe

at low soil pH condition. Therefore, agricultural liming
materials added to soil is a profitable soil additive and
it hydrolyzes Al3+ and Fe 3+ ions that precipitated with
P. Hence, the precipitated phosphate ion released in to the
soil solution thereby rendering the phosphate ion
available for plant uptake. Liming and thus raising the pH
of acidic soil across different land use systems generally
provide more favorable environments for microbial
activities and possibly results net mineralization of soil
organic P [22, 23, 27]. Across each land use system,
increasing the soil pH due to applied agricultural lime has
no significant effect on total N content. This may be due
to the absence of N input in to the soil which results less
N losses from the soil. Similar conclusion was reached by
Simard et al. [24] who observed no effect of liming on C
and total N content of the acidic soil. Similarly, research
result by Effiong and Okon [21] also indicated, the
absence of noticeable effect on total N as a result of
treating the acidic soil with various liming material
including CaCO3.

Effects of Lime Rates on Exchangeable Al and its Percent

Saturation: Output of the mean square estimate at the end
of the incubation experiment showed that, exchangeable
Al and its percent saturation in the soils of forest,
grazing and cultivated lands responded highly
significantly to different lime rates (P < 0.001), while
insignificantly (P > 0.05) with lime particle sizes and with
the interaction between lime rates and lime particle size
(Table 2). The exchangeable Al and its percent saturation
are the main determining factor in reducing soil pH.
The reductions in exchangeable Al and percent Al
saturation of the soils were related to the increased
exchangeable Ca, Mg and soil pH. The results clearly
indicated, liming material as a management practice could
be used to alleviate acidification of soils. Thus, acid soil
sensitive crops such as barley and wheat production on
acidic soil area must focus on greater understanding
of soil Al, Ca and Mg dynamics and their management.
In the present study, untreated soils under each land use
system were acidic and resulted in low available P and
exchangeable bases, but high in exchangeable Al and
percent acid saturation. However, application of
agricultural lime into these acidic soils of different land
use systems significantly decreased exchangeable Al and
exchangeable acidity by enhancing soil pH values as well
as exchangeable Ca and Mg in the soil solutions.

Soil Exchangeable Bases and Cation Exchange Capacity:

Numerically the mean values of soils exchangeable Ca2+
ion and CEC of each land use type showed increments
with the increase of applied lime rates and soil pH.
However, the exchangeable Mg2+ under each land use
system was decreased and showed no uniform
distributions of other soil exchangeable bases. However,
the direct relationships between pH, exchangeable Ca and
CEC with the increase of the lime rates is attributed to the
applied lime which enhances the concentration of Ca2+
and thereby increases the soil pH due to the dissociation
of agricultural lime and replacement of H+ and Al 3+ from
the soil solution and soil exchange complex. On the other
hand the decrement of exchangeable Mg2+ with the
increase of applied agricultural lime may be due to the
competitive exchange between the Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions in
the sorption complex in which Ca dominates and soil
displaces Mg2+ ion by the process of mass action
reaction. Similarly, Effiong et al. [26] also reported an
increase in the exchangeable Ca ion for each incremental
unit of the applied lime in to soils. For all land use systems
the direct relationship of CEC with soil pH may be
attributed to the presence of pH dependant negative
charges which can increase with increasing soil pH due to
applied agricultural lime. The absence of Mg2+ and
presence of high concentration of Ca2+ in the applied
agricultural lime causes the Mg2+ to relate inversely with
the CEC.

Effects of Lime Rates on Soil Organic Matter, Total N

and Available P: Due to application of the different rates
of the agricultural lime, when the soil OM and the
available P of the soils of the forest, grazing and
cultivated lands increased, the total N was not showed a
significant change. The increment of soil pH and OM with
the available P content of the soils of each land use
system with increasing lime rate may be attributed to
increasing pH due to liming that could release the
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World J. Agric. Sci., 8 (6): 560-567, 2012

Acid and Base Saturation Percentages of Soils: For all

land use systems of the present study, increasing lime
rates for both 50 and 100 mesh sizes decreased the
percent acid saturation and increased percent base
saturation. The reason for the inverse relationship
between the percent acid saturation and percent base
saturation attributed with their positive and negative
effects with that of exchangeable bases and acid in the
soil solutions, respectively. That is, as the rates of
agricultural lime applied to the soil increased the
concentration of exchangeable bases like Ca2+ in the soil
solution increases thereby decreasing the concentration
of the exchangeable acid (Al and H) ions from the soil
exchange complex. The percent acid saturation of the
forest land decreased from 10% in the control (no lime)
to 0.85 and 0.74% for the lime rate of 10 t ha-1 with lime
particle sizes of both 50 and 100 meshes, respectively.
Likewise, for grazing and cultivated lands it decreased,
respectively, from 26.71 and 45.79% in the control
(no lime) to 3.75 and 23.7% for the lime particle sizes of
50 mesh and 2.98 and 23.64% for lime particle sizes of
100 mesh size of 10 t ha 1 of applied lime rates. On the
other hand, the percent base saturation of the forest land
increased from 34.25% in the control (no lime) to 58.5 and
58.42% for the lime rate of 10 t ha 1 with lime particle sizes
of both 50 and 100 meshes, respectively. Similarly, for
soils of the grazing and cultivated lands it increased,
respectively, from 26.87 and 18.75% in the control
(no lime) to 45.72 and 35.10% for the lime particle sizes of
50 mesh and 45.61 and 35.13% for lime particle sizes of
100 mesh of 10 t ha-1 lime rate. In general, the increase in
both the percent base saturation and exchangeable bases
increases with the increasing lime rate and the inverse
relationship with percent acid saturation and with
exchangeable acidity may indicate the neutralization and
replacements of significant fraction of the exchangeable
acidity by exchangeable bases [20, 24].

exchange complex to the levels required and increasing

nutrient availabilities for plant uptakes. To validate the
findings of the present green house incubation study and
for the profitability of acid sensitive crops production,
farmers may need to apply optimum lime to the soils under
study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the financial grant of the
Ministry of Education through the Haramaya University,
Ethiopia. We also acknowledges the staff and laboratory
technicians of the Chemistry Department of Ambo
University, the Ambo Crop Protection Research Center
and Holetta Agricultural Research Center of Ethiopia for
their logistic support and unreserved cooperation during
soil sample analysis and undertaking the greenhouse
incubation experiment.
REFERENCES
1.

2.

3.

CONCLUSIONS

4.

From this study, relationships between level of

applied lime and soil pH were developed to establish
optimum lime required to reduce the severity of
exchangeable acidity raise the soil pH under different land
use systems. The application of agricultural lime into soil
contributed to alleviate the inherent acidity of the soils
through its ability to neutralize acidity. This resulted in
reduction of exchangeable acidity, Al saturation and
thereby increasing soil pH and the concentration of the
basic nutrient elements in the soil solutions and the

5.

566

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