Date

2013-5

Author

Forsuh, Peter Atungsiri

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The non-point (defused) source pollution of agrochemicals on soils; surface water and ground water may be a driving force of environmental degradation and may also pose risks to human health. This thesis seeks to address concerns about environmental sustainability in agriculture systems by undertaking a first baseline study of agrichemical residues - such as nitrate, nitrite, potash, and phosphates - on the soils of citrus orchards in Guzelyurt district. The methods applied in this study are both quantitative and qualitative chemical analysis of soils samples taken at the end of the citrus farming season in April, 2012. Three classes of orchards were investigated for the concentrations of fertilizer residues in the soil of citrus in Guzelyurt. Ten orchards and 29 sample points were investigated. The orchards included inorganic orchards (receiving fertilizers),organic orchards (receiving organic manures) and an abandoned orchard (which served as a control). Soil samples were randomly collected and brought to the laboratory and analyzed by spectrophotometry and flame photometry. Following the conduct of laboratory analysis a profile of agrichemical residues in soil representing the citrus orchard soils of the Guzelyurt district was identified. Mean residue ranges were found in fertilized orchards for nitrate 15.8 to 20.50 mg/l, nitrite 0.05 mg/l, phosphate 0.15 to 0.34 mg/l and potash 0.79 to 1.49 mg/l across soil depths from 0 to 90 cm. Mean ranges for organic orchards were found to be, nitrate 7.00 to 30.55 mg/l, nitrite 0.03 to 0.05 mg/l, phosphate 0.01 to 0.15 and potash 0.64 to 1.39 mg/l across soil depths from 0 to 90 cm. These results can form the baseline measures for any future studies.

Subject Keywords

Soil, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Potash, Residues

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/69862

Collections

Northern Cyprus Campus, Thesis