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A B S T R A C T
Physical and hydraulic characteristics of soils of cattle grazed land in Akure was investigated in this research. Soil
bulk density, total porosity, micro and macro porosities as well as the hydraulic conductivity of soils in a land under
daily cattle grazing were determined following a 3 x 3 completely randomized design method. The grazed land of
about 100 x 100 m2 were divided into three sections i.e. Locations 1, 2 and 3. Three soil samples were collected per
location using soil corers 4 x 5 cm2 and the hydraulic conductivity determined insitu on the field using mini-disk
infiltrometer. Results showed that the mean bulk density of the grazed land ranged between 0.80 (±0.49) and 0.86
(±0.65) g/cm3, while the mean total porosities were 69.65 (±1.85), 69.95 (±0.99) and 67.57 (±2.54)% at depths 0 – 10,
10 – 20 and 20 – 30 cm, respectively. The soil moisture content were 10.99 (± 0.82), 8.38 (± 2.00) and 8.35 (± 0.30) %
for sampling locations 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The hydraulic conductivity value of locations 1, 2 and 3 were 1.03 x
10-4, 1.47 x 10-4 and 6.60 x 10-5 cm s-1. The result of the experiment indicated that the soil is over-grazed and thus
should be put under conservation over some period to enable structural improvement of soil and better crop productivity