Soil fertility Evaluation for the Potential Coffee Areas in Morogoro and Mvomero Districts, Eastern Tanzania

Soil fertility evaluation for Arabica and Robusta coffee was conducted in Morogoro and Mvomero districts, representing the historical, yet insignificant, Eastern coffee area. Field characteristics were recorded and soil samples collected from 0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm depths in nine wards per district. Samples were analyzed for soil texture, pH-water, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, CEC, exchangeable bases and extractable Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn. Qualitative (simple limitation), quantitative evaluation of the supply potential of N, P and K, spatial and multivariate statistical analysis were used. Over 70% of survey sites were moderately fertile, implying that coffee production is viable. Mvomero was lower than Morogoro in both pH and OC; hence lower in total available NPK. Soil pH, OC, available P, Fe, Mg/K, TEB and K/TEB explained 32.05% of the total variability, with CEC, BS and ESP explaining 19.00%. Four ward clusters were identified, with clusters best expressed by micronutrients (Cu and Fe), followed by total N, Na, K/TEB, Zn, Mg and K. Soil fertility limitations were low pH, low Ca and K, low OC, low N and very low micronutrient levels. District councils should devise coffee development programmes, taking cognizance of the intervention strategies suggested in this work.