Effects of Animal Faeces and Their Extracts on Maize Yield in an Ultisol of Eastern Nigeria

Thesis Overview

<p> <b>1.1 INTRODUCTION&nbsp;</b></p><p>Most soils when put under continuous cultivation deteriorate in physico-chemical properties and give low crop yields after a few years of production. The use of organic matter or animal faeces in various forms can restore the productive capacity of these soils. The use of animal faeces or wastes by farmers aims at increasing and sustaining agricultural productivity of soils and crops (Ageeb, 2000). Poultry manure is an excellent source of nutrients and can be incorporated into most fertilizer programmes. It is also the richest animal manure in NPK but must be cured before adding it to the soil otherwise it will burn any plant it comes in contact with (Zublena, 1993). Swine waste is also an excellent source of nutrient for crop production and its nutrient content is also high. Cow dung is a good potential source of plant nutrient, but only in areas where animals are tethered or penned, so that dung can be collected. Cow dung can also be used as topdressing and for soil improvement. Its low nutrient value makes it safe to apply unlimited quantities. The form a nutrient is applied in the soil often determines its availability and longterm effect of the soil. Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most widely grown and used crop in the world. It is the most important cereal fodder and grain crop under both irrigation and rain fed agricultural systems in the semi-arid and arid tropics (Hussan, 2003). These days hybrid maize is grown widely and is well known for its high demand for plant nutrients and other production inputs. It is important to inform farmers that all the conditions required for maximum performance of hybrid maize have to be fulfilled before the desired economic returns can be obtained since maize is sensitive to nutrient deficiency.&nbsp;</p><p>The form a soil nutrient is applied to the soil determines its availability and readiness for crop use. Liquid fertilizers tend to contain more readily available nutrients. Thus, they influence crop growth and development faster than solid ones. Most animal faeces are in solid form and this form delays the availability of nutrients there in. Farmers who have these faeces may be willing to dissolve them and use their liquid form if they are guided by empirical research results. The objective of this work was to evaluate the response of maize to various forms of animal faeces applied to maize grown in an ultisol.&nbsp;</p><p>Materials and Methods Location This experiment was conducted in the Greenhouse of the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), between May 3, and June 28, 2012. Nsukka lies in southeastern Nigeria (latitude 060 52’ N and latitude 070 24’ E) and is located within the derived savannah region of Nigeria. The soil used was collected from the plots beside the Meteorology station in the UNN premises at the depth of 0-15 cm. The soil is a sandy loam ultisol. Green house studies The experimental design used was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) replicated four times. The maize used was Manoma maize bought from the Department of Crop Science UNN. The top soil (0-15cm depth), poultry droppings (PD), piggery dung (PgD) and cow dung (CD) used were air dried in the green house. Two kg of the sieved dry soil was weighed out and poured into each of the 52 ceramic pots used for the experiment. The holes at the bottom of the pots were covered with cotton wool to prevent soil loss and allow gradual water drainage. Twenty five grams of each of the dried poultry, piggery and cow faeces were weighed and poured inside 36 plastic buckets after which nine each was soaked for one, two weeks and more than two weeks respectively using 75 cl of water for obtaining the extracts. Another twelve pots also received 25 g of solid poultry dropping, cow dung and piggery dung as the treatment. This solid amendment was properly mixed with the soil in the ceramic pots.&nbsp;</p><p>The amended soil was incubated for 2 weeks and was watered using 50 cl of water to stimulate microbial decomposition of the manure. The next twelve pots received 50 cl of the liquid gotten from the one week soaking of the animal faeces. The remaining 24 pots received 50 cl of the liquid extracted from the faeces soaked for two weeks though 12 pots out of these last 24 pots received subsequent application of 25 cl of the liquid extract till the end of the experiment. The other pots equally received 25 cl of ordinary water at every other day interval. These amendments were equivalent to 15 t ha-1 commonly recommended for the soils of the area (Agbim and Adeoye, 1991). Four pots containing soil without any amendment were used as the control; <br></p><p> <b>Laboratory analysis&nbsp;</b></p><p>The particle size analysis (mechanical analysis) of the soil was done by the Bouyoucos hydrometer method (Bouyoucos, 1962) using NaOH as a dispersing agent. The carbon content was determined by the Walkley and Black (1934) method. The percentage organic matter was derived by multiplying percentage organic carbon by 1.724, which is the correction factor. Total nitrogen was determined by the Kjeldahl method (Bremner, 1965). The exchangeable bases (Na, K, Ca, Mg) were extracted using ammonium acetate. The exchangeable Ca and Mg were determined titrimetrically with EDTA (Ethylene Diaminetetracetic Acid) complexometric method. Exchangeable Na and K were determined by flame photometry. Available phosphorus was determined by the Bray 11 method (Bray and Kutz, 1945).The pH was determined using a pH meter in a soil: liquid ratio of 1:25, the liquid being 0.1N KCl and H2O while exchangeable acidity was determined trimetrically with NaOH. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil was determined as specified by Chapman (1965). <br></p><p> <b>Planting and harvesting&nbsp;</b></p><p>The planting was done on May 3, 2012. Maize was planted at the seedling rate of 2 seeds per pot. The pots were wetted every two days. After one week, the maize was thinned down to one stand per pot. The maize was harvested after eight weeks from planting (on 28th of June) by cutting off the plant at the stem-line (just at the soil surface). The shoot was air-dried for few days and then oven-dried at a temperature of 65oC to a constant weight. The following parameters were measured: plant height, total leaf count, leaf area, leaf length and leaf width including the dry matter weight of the plant. <br></p><p> <b>Results and Discussion&nbsp;</b></p><p>The chemical and physical characteristics of the soil used to conduct the experiment before treatments were added to it are presented in table 1. The soil texture is sandy loam, moderately to very strongly acid in reaction with moderate amount of organic matter and available P contents. The exchangeable Mg, Na and K were high, while Ca was very high. <br></p><p> <b>Table: Characteristics of the Soil before Planting </b>______________________________________________________________________________ Soil Properties Values ______________________________________________________________________________&nbsp;</p><p>Textural class                      Sandy loam</p><p>&nbsp;pH H2O                            5.7&nbsp;</p><p>pHKCl                             4.7&nbsp;</p><p>SOM (gkg-1)                           1.39&nbsp;</p><p>Total N (gkg-1)                          0.11&nbsp;</p><p>Avail. P (mgkg-1)                         18.7&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. Mg (Cmolkg-1)                        0.4&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. Ca (Cmolkg-1)                        0.6&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. Na (Cmolkg-1)                        0.17&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. K (Cmolkg-1)                         0.12&nbsp;</p><p>CEC (Cmolkg-1)                         4.4&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. H (Cmolkg-1)                         1.0&nbsp;</p><p>Ex. Al (Cmolkg-1)                          Nil ____________________________________________________________________________&nbsp;</p><p>The chemical characteristics of the organic waste used in this study showed that they are very high in organic matter. The bases in all the animal faeces were very low. Nitrogen and phosphorus were also very low in all of them. The pH level of all the animal manure ranged from slightly alkaline to neutral <br></p>