Content:  The course introduces students to the need to maintain the fertility and structure of the soil for high crop yield, It also exposes the students to methods of managing and conserving the soil for sustained crop production through ways of reducing soil erosion to control the loss of nutrients, methods of decreasing rates of sedimentation of water bodies, tillage and its effect on soil properties, tillage and soil structure management, traditional and modern tillage practices, physical aspects and machine-soil interaction, management of problem soils and management of soils under different cropping systems.

Objective: To expose students to sustained level of production from the land whilst maintaining soil loss below threshold level which permits the natural rate of soil formation to keep pace with the rate of soil erosion.

Reading materials

1. Morgan, R.P.C. (ed.) 1995. Soil Erosion and Conservation 2nd Edn. John Wiley & Sons, England.
2. Plaster, E.J. 2009. Soil Science and Management. 5th Edn. Clifton Park, NY
3. Schwab, G.O. Frevert, R.K., Edminster, T.W. and Barnes, K.K. 1981. Soil and Water Conservation Engineering. 3rd Edn. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New York