Effect of the integrated use of legume residue, poultry manure and inorganic fertilizers on maize yield, nutrient uptake and soil properties

Abstract

Identification of a sustainable integrated soil fertility management option in the tropics will not only salvage the degraded soils but also enhances the attainment of the goal of food security. This study was conducted in 2004 and 2005 on a degraded tropical Alfisol in south western Nigeria to evaluate the effect of legume residue, poultry manure and inorganic fertilizers on maize yield, nutrient uptake and soil properties. The treatments consisted of two rates of poultry manure (0 and 5 t ha -1 ), three rates of N fertilizer (0, 50 and 100 kg N ha -1 applied as urea), three rates of P fertilizer (0, 30 and 60 kg P ha -1 applied as single super phosphate) and two soybean treatments (with or without incorporation of legume residue) in various combinations as a factorial experiment in Randomized Complete Block design with three replicates. Results showed that poultry manure alone led to significant increase in maize yield (60%) and soil organic matter (45%). In contrast, legume residue incorporation gave significantly lower increase in yield (7%) and soil organic matter (11%). However, the combined application of poultry manure and legume incorporation led to 72% increase in maize yield as opposed to 63 and 10% increase recorded when manure alone or legume alone were incorporated, respectively. Optimal maize yield was achieved when manure application was integrated with P fertilizer application. The interaction of P fertilizer and legume incorporation indicated that soil phosphorus and maize P concentration were significantly increased with the application of the P fertilizer and legume incorporation. Hence, the application of P fertilizer alone is most likely to be economical compared with its integration with legume incorporation.

Potential of Organic Wastes as Liming Materials in Low Input Rainfed Agricultural System

“…The poultry manure and vermicompost application recorded on par yield followed by gliricidia (3.47 t ha -1 ) and coconut husk + lime (3.03 t ha -1 ). Similar increase in maize yield by organics especially by poultry manure and vermicompost was also reported by Amusan et al (2011). Similarly poultry manure amended plots recorded significantly higher stover yield (12.67 t ha -1 ) with total biological yield of 16.46 t ha -1 followed by vermicompost (11.05, 14.78 t ha -1 ) and gliricidia (10.85, 14.32 t ha -1 ) application mainly by improved N availability.…”

“…This improves the availability of macro nutrients such as N, P, Ca and Mg and reduces the solubility of Al 3+ and Mn 2+ which are toxic to crop plants (O' Hallorans et al, 1997). Nonetheless, organic materials such as wood ash (Materechera, 2012), poultry manure (Chandrashekara et al, 2000;Haynes & Mokolobate, 2001;Amusan et al, 2011), green and animal manures (Nziguheba et al, 2000) were also reported to increase the pH of acid soils and improve soil fertility by supplying essential plant nutrients. The increase in maize grain yield by application of organic manures and crop residues in acid soils was also reported (Nziguheba et al, 2000;The et al, 2006 (Din et al, 2008).…”

Production of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Genotypes with Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) Gray and Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.

“…Results from this study showed that the addition of mulch from T. diversifolia or C. cajan did not substantially affect soil chemistry, including soil pH. Similarly, Amusan et al [26] and Das et al [27] did not observe changes in soil pH when either manure or biomass or a combination of manure and biomass were added to an acidic soil in southwestern Nigeria and India. The lack of a significant increase in soil pH may also be due to the smaller amount of mulch biomass added from T. diversifolia or C. cajan compared to other studies [28].…”

Growth of Corn Roots and Associated Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Are Affected by Long‐Term Tillage and Phosphorus Fertilization

“…It was reported that corn P absorption could be modified by tillage or by P fertilization (Amusan et al, 2011; Chassot and Richner, 2002). Some studies conducted under controlled conditions indicated that the tillage‐induced decrease in corn P absorption was due, at least in part, to the negative effects of tillage on the effectiveness of mycorrhizal symbiosis (Gavito and Miller, 1998; Miller, 2000).…”