3.1 Soil Quality Standards for Agricultural Land Use

An agro-ecological-farming systems approach is followed as a basis for recommending soil quality standards (SQS), and focuses on the main soil types within the particular farming system. The soil quality standards are derived on the basis of inherent land qualities and land-use potentials. Soils are grouped into categories according to their suitability (current or potential) to specified types of sustained (agricultural) use, taking into account attributes and constituent factors, as well as land qualities made up of the latter.

It is important to note that SQS are applied during:

 Project planning;
 Project implementation; and,
 Project evaluation or monitoring.

The following classification of agricultural land is proposed
for Uganda (rain fed agriculture):

 Prime agricultural land (High value land).
 Good agricultural land.
 Medium agricultural land.
 Marginal/fragile agricultural land.
 Low value/Unsuitable agricultural land.

Prime agricultural land is defined as land with the least management problems apart from nutrient management. Maximum inputs yield maximum outputs on prime agricultural land.