*3.1. Soil Properties*

In this study, there was no significant difference in soil texture (p = 0.09) across the cropping systems and soil was sandy-clay loam or sandy-clay depending on their silt content (Table 2). Soil pH varied significantly (*p* = 0.03) between the cropping systems and soil under MCRC exhibited the lowest pH values. The soil under MCRC was classified as acidic while the soil under other cropping systems were classified as slightly acidic. Soil bulk-density (BD) values were significantly higher for the surface depth layers of 0–10 and 10–20 cm in the soil under fallow (5YF and Ab10YF) and teak plantation than the soil under cropping (MCRC and YMI). However, for the sub-layer depths (20–30 and 30–40), regardless of the cropping system, BD values increased with YMI showing the lowest BD while MCRC, TP, 5YF and Ab10YF exhibited the highest values.

**Table 2.** Soil properties under the different cropping systems.


MCRC: maize–cotton relay cropping; 5YF: 5-year fallow; Ab10YF: above 10-year fallow; YMI: yam–maize intercropping system; TP: teak plantation; BD: bulk density. Means that do not share a letter are significantly different at α = 0.05. ns non-significant at 5%; \* *p* value significant at 5%.
