The low fertility of highly weathered soils has been a major problem for resource-constrained smallholder farmers. In central Uganda, smallholder farmers have been collecting termite mound soils anywhere around the termite mound to improve their soil fertility. However, no studies have been conducted on which sections of the termite mounds consist of high soil nutrients. This study was conducted to assess selected major soil essential plant nutrients of soils collected from the top of the mound (TPMS), and the basal part of the mound (BPMS). The surrounding soil samples were collected from five, fifteen, and thirty meters away from the mound (TMSS1, TMSS2, and TMSS3 respectively), covering ten termite mounds in five different maize fields in central Uganda. TPMS and BPMS had significant (P-value < 0.05) higher N, P, K, OC, Ca and Mg levels than TMSS1, TMSS2, and TMSS3. However, OC levels in BPMS was higher than TPMS. On the whole, termite mounds are beneficial as a source for essential plant nutrients. It will be best if smallholder farmers could collect the termite mound soils from the top and the basal part of the mound to improve the fertility of their soil.

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Potential of termite mounds and its surrounding soils as soil amendments in smallholder farms in central Uganda.

Biochar Enhanced Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Growth by Balancing Crop Growth-Related Characteristics of Two Paddy Soils of Contrasting Textures

. Indrayani Y, Anwari S. 2021. Effect of termite activity on soil chemical properties using baiting systems at an arboretum area in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 2125-2130. Termites play an essential and positive role as decomposers in nature, apart from being known as wood-destroying insects. These two varying characteristics led to the development of termite control technology, capable of digesting cellulose components and making soils rich in organic compounds. Therefore, this study examines the soil's biogenic structure due to termite activity using a control technology with a baiting system. The bait was made with various compositions of eucalyptus leaves, paper and cardboard, 60%: 40%: 0%, 60%: 20%: 20%, 60%: 0%: 40%, 0%: 100%: 0% and 0%: 0%: 100% with a size of 2cm x 2cm x 1cm and eucalyptus leaves as an attractant. In addition, a PVC tube measuring 10 cm diameter and 20 cm height with 25 holes consisting of 3 mm diameter on the side was used for field application. A total of 100 grams of bait for each composition was entered into the feed tube and placed in the Arboretum of Tanjungpura University, West Kalimantan, with three replications and left for 21 days. At the end of the observation period, the soil’s biogenic structures with termites were analyzed to determine their chemical properties. Furthermore, the same analysis was also carried out on the soil surrounding the test area without termite activity for comparison. The results showed that the pH, C/N ratio, C-Organic, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium contents as well as Cation Exchange Capacity of the soil produced from the tube containing the bait with a composition of 60%: 0%: 40% was significantly higher. This means that the soil's biogenic structure produced by termite activity with a baiting system increases land productivity and chemical properties.

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Effect of termite activity on soil chemical properties using baiting systems at an arboretum area in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Agronomical potentiality of termite mound soils in a transitional zone in central Côte d’Ivoire

Military Termites have been considered as a major pest causing significant reduction to crop productivity in tropical regions of the world. The termite destroys many plants (domestic and wild) at any stage of development from the seedlings to maturity. Crops such as cotton, wheat and ground nuts, upper land rice and eucalyptus trees are highly susceptible to termite damage. They destroy huge amounts of organic materials especially those used as mulches in plantation farming. However, there are beneficial termite activities such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient dynamics that are essential components in the soil ecosystem as they aid in maintaining long-term soil productivity and also in restoring barren soils. The review sought to establish the contribution of military termite activities to soil productivity. The result from the review showed that termite activities such as burrowing, chewing of plant litter, excavation activities in search of food, and construction of termitaria leads to improved soil structure, soil aeration, water infiltration via soil porosity, plant nutrient (calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium) and soil organic matter which will eventually result to improved yields of crops. Also, termite mound has been suggested to be very effective for bulking agent for compost preparation and soil amendment.

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Role of Military Termites (Pseudocanthotermes militaris) in Improving Soil Productivity in Tropical Agroecosystems

The residual effects of biochar are yet to receive adequate research attention in Sub-Saharan Africa despite the assumption that the positive effect of biochar may last longer on degraded tropical soil. Hence a field experiment was conducted to assess the residual effects of biochar, farmyard compost and NPK fertilizer applications on a Ferralsol in central Uganda. The field used for the study was previously used to conduct experiments for two seasons to assess the contribution of corncob biochar to the chemical properties of this highly degraded tropical soil. The co-applied biochar with compost and NPK fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) increased some soil chemical properties such as soil pH, available phosphorus, soil organic carbon, and potassium than the control. The co-applied biochar with compost also significantly (p < 0.05) increased the soil pH and effective cation exchange capacity compared to the solely applied compost and NPK fertilizer. Collard plant height, canopy, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf length, and total biomass were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the biochar amended soil than the unamended soil. It was concluded that the addition of biochar with compost and NPK fertilizer had a significant residual effect on degraded tropical soils than solely applied NPK and compost.

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Residual effects of corncob biochar on tropical degraded soil in central Uganda

Weeds are considered a pest that is detrimental to human interest Weeds compete with cultivated and desirable plants for space, soil nutrient, and sunlight and soil moisture thereby reducing crop productivity Weeds also serve as a host for pests and pathogens that cause plant diseases Weeds typically produce large numbers of seeds, assisting their spread, and rapidly invade disturbed sites Seeds spread into natural and disturbed environments, via wind, waterways, people, vehicles, machinery, birds and other animals To prevent the effect of weeds on crop productivity, farmers mostly use a linear approach for weed management The linear view approach aims at eradicating weeds without concern about the environment This paper reviews the effects of the linear view approach of weed management in the agro-ecosystem A review using forty-one articles reveals that herbicides application, bush burning and soil tillage are the most often used linear view approach for controlling weeds in the farm ecosystem The paper highlights the contribution of these weed control methods to climate change through loss of biodiversity, pollution of water bodies, soil degradation, deterioration of fruit quality and release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

	Key words: Herbicides, biodiversity, bush burning, soil tillage

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Gideon Kalii Muli

Papers

Role of Military Termites (Pseudocanthotermes militaris) in Improving Soil Productivity in Tropical Agroecosystems

Residual effects of corncob biochar on tropical degraded soil in central Uganda

Effect of linear view approach of weed management in agro-ecosystem: A review