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Increasing maize production is vital for contributing to smallholder farmers' food security since it ranks second in production after wheat. However, the decline in soil fertility is a marked constraint to crop productivity in developing countries, particularly in maize production. Recently, organic amendments through liquid bio-slurry enhanced maize productivity and improved food security via changes in soil physico-chemical properties for smallholder farmers in developing countries like Ethiopia. However, the utilization of liquid bio-slurry as an organic amendment has not been extensively investigated in the study areas. Therefore, field experiments were conducted at two sites to determine the optimum combination of inorganic N and liquid bio-slurry for improving maize productivity. A factorial combination of two mineral N (0 and 46 kg ha-1) and five liquid bio-slurry (0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 t ha-1) rates were used in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that the combined use of N and liquid bio-slurry improved the growth and yield of maize in the two experimental sites. Plant height, ear length, number of rows per ear, number of kernels per ear, above-ground dry biomass, hundred-grain weight, grain yield and straw yield of maize were all improved by applying 46 kg N ha-1 along with 18 t liquid bio-slurry ha-1. The highest grain yield (8.12 t ha-1) was achieved from the combined application of 46 kg N ha-1 with 18 t liquid bio-slurry ha-1. Thus, using 46 kg N ha-1 with 18 t liquid bio-slurry ha-1 is highly recommended to increase the yield of maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite termite-induced soil mixing, summarizing termite-affected soil horizons is difficult, while the lack of accurate information on the pedogenic processes featured by termite bioturbation, topography, and land use limits an effort to address land degradation. A study was therefore carried out to quantitatively classify the soils and describe them based on rangeland uses. Based on cluster analysis, five representative soil profiles were studied at different topographical positions. Soil samples were collected from mounds and adjacent soils under enclosure, cultivated, and open-grazing land at the summit and foot slope positions. Agglomerative clustering showed low Ca 2+ , CEC, pH, and Mg 2+ that described cambic horizons formed Cambisols at the summit and back slope. Eluviation-illuviation processes formed Luvisols on the toe slope and foot slope, whereas clay and high CEC described argic horizons. High Ca 2+ , CEC, pH, and Mg 2+ described calcic horizons that formed Calcisols on the bottom slope. Divisive clustering showed that soil properties varied slightly between Cambisols and Luvisols at different topographies. However, the Luvisols on the toe slope were differentiated from the soil on the foot slope by predominant pedogenetic clay formation and a distinctly increased CEC. Calcisols are placed in other clusters due to their distinct properties. Agglomerative clustering reflected pedogenic processes and differentiated diagnostic horizons, while divisive clustering matched WRB classification. The results of this study also showed that termite-mediated soil properties were dictated by rangeland use, and pedogenesis was more noticeable on open-grazing land than on enclosure or cultivated land., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Abinet Bekele reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/501100003081Ethiopian Ministry of Education. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)