Effects of land clearing methods on the properties and productivity of an Alfisol in south-western Nigeria

Summary This study investigated the impact of manual and mechanical land clearing methods on the soils and the yield of maize in a part of the rainforest belt of south-western Nigeria. The results of the study revealed that the mean values of such soil properties as the organic matter, bulk-density, total porosity, soil moisture and to some extent the exchangeable actions in the mechanically cleared farms differed significantly at (P 0.05) from those in the manually cleared farms and the rainforest vegetation used in the control plot. There was no significant difference in the average yield of maize for the three years for which records were available.Dr Adeniyi Gbadegesin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography, University of Ibadan, where Miss B. B. Olusesi was a recent graduate.