This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the level of soil pollution by heavy metals caused as a result of irrigation in an agricultural system called urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) practiced on the banks of the Jakara stream which passes through residential as well as industrial areas and serving as a sewage disposal means in Kano metropolis. Two locations were selected for the study along the stream channel based on pollution source suspicion: Hajj Camp in the metropolis which water is suspectedly polluted by domestic discharge from the city; and Magami in the peri-urban part of the city where polluted water from the city meets industrially polluted water of the Getsi River from the Bompai industrial estate. The analytical result reveals that there is a detectable concentration of all the metals analyzed for namely; Cadmium, Cd (mean = 0.029mg/kg and 0.034mg/kg for the two locations respectively), Lead, Pb (mean = 2.98mg/kg and 2.76mg/kg for the two locations respectively) and Copper (mean = 2.48mg/kg and 1.74mg/kg for the two locations respectively). When compared with internationally approved limits (European soils and American literature); the mean values were significantly different at 0.05LSD and very low.

Keywords: UPA, Pollution, Heavy metals, Soil