Agronomic suitability

Physico-chemical analysis of soils of the Bambouto volcanic massif in the highlands of western Cameroon. Food security is fragile in sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, agriculture occupies more than 60% of the active population and because of the growing demography, it is necessary to revitalize production. Sustainable management of soil resources should contribute significantly to poverty reduction in the country, but one of the prerequisites is knowledge of their agronomic potential. Thus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development aims to produce an agronomic aptitude map of Cameroon. The Bambouto volcanic massif was selected for this study because it is fairly representative of humid tropical mountainous environments. The objective of this study is to produce the agronomic suitability map of the soils of the Bambouto massif. The formula used for land evaluation is: AA = pH×RU×K×CEC. Cross-analysis of these parameters in a geographic information system allowed the classification of soils according to their agronomic suitability. The soils are andosolic in the upper zone and ferrallitic in the lower zone. The andosolic soils have a good agronomic aptitude. Their texture is clay loam to silty clay loam dominated by coarse materials. They are moderately acidic with a low useful water reserve. The cation exchange capacity is very high, as well as the erodibility.