ABSTRACT

An incubation experiment was conducted on the laboratory benches at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike between the months of October and November, 2008 to investigate the effect of amendment on soil contaminated with spent engine oil in umuahia metropolis using different organic materials. The organic manures used were Poultry manure(PM), Kitchen residue ash(KA), Goat dung(GD) and Maize husk ash(MH) and the rates of application were 1tonne per hectare, 2tonnes per hectare, 3tonnes per hectare and 4tonnes per hectare with their equivalents as 2.7, 5.4, 8.1, and 10.8g per 100g of soil. The soils were sampled from 3 locations in Umuahia mechanic shops, air dried and passed through a 2mm sieve and 100g of contaminated soils were weighed into 500m1 container and the equivalents of the organic manures (2.7g, 5.4g. 8. lg and 10.8g) were added and incubated for 8 weeks. At the end of the incubation period, the following soil parameters were analyzed: pH in H2O, organic carbon, total Nitrogen, available P, exchangeable cations (calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium), exchangeable acidity, total exchangeable bases, effective cation exchange capacity and % base saturation. The results obtained showed that 4 tons per hectare of kitchen residue ash significantly (p<0.05) increased the PH, exchangeable calcium and total exchangeable bases and poultry manure significantly (p<0.05) increased the available phosphorus of the soil at 4tons per hectare. The study showed that organic materials especially kitchen residue ash and poultry manure could be the best organic amendment to use for soils contaminated with spent engine oil.