THE USE OF ORGANIC WASTES IN RESTORING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF DEGRADED SOILS IN NORTHERN NIGERIAN SAVANNA

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THE USE OF ORGANIC WASTES IN RESTORING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF DEGRADED SOILS IN NORTHERN NIGERIAN SAVANNA

Abstract:

Two greenhouse experiments were conducted. The first experiment was to test the effectiveness of various organic materials in restoring the productivity of degraded sandy soils from Dambatta (Kano State) and Maiaduwa (Katsina State) – The amendments used were cow dung, poultry droppings, rice straw and sawdust.These were used either alone or with fertilizer and in addition to control without amendment were laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replications. The test crop used was maize which was planted after a four week incubation period- Plant height and girth were measured at weekly intervals from 10 days after emergence while dry matter yield of leaves, stems and roots were taken after harvesting- The concentrations of macro and micronutrients in the plant parts were also determined. A second cropping was immediately carried out after harvesting and remixing of the soil- Parameters observed in the first cropping were also monitored during the second cropping. In the second experiment, the effectiveness of ash as a nutrient source in improving crop growth was evaluated. A soil collected from a field at the research farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Samaru was used in this study. The ash obtained by burning crop residue in a drum was used at the rate of 0, .1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 kg/ha. This was applied either alone or with N fertilizer at the rate of 0,120,240ppm or with complete nutrient solution(CNS)- Maize was used as the test crop and the parameters measured included plant height and girth at weekly intervals, dry matter yields of leaves, stem and roots and the nutrient element concentrations in the three plant parts. Poultry droppings, cow dung and rice straw all improved crop performance as reflected in plant height, girth and dry matter yields while sawdust depressed all three parameters. Fertilizer addition complemented the effects of these amendments. Poultry droppings, cow dung and rice straw increased concentrations of plant nutrients while sawdust decreased these. Poultry droppings proved best in restoring the productivity of these soils followed by cow dung then rice straw. Crop performance was generally better on Maiaduwa than Dambatta soil and also generally better in the second than the first cropplngs. Increasing levels of ash improved the growth of maize crop more so with the addition of N.

THE USE OF ORGANIC WASTES IN RESTORING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF DEGRADED SOILS IN NORTHERN NIGERIAN SAVANNA

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