ABSTRACT

 Incubation studies were carried out to investigate the effectiveness of ground eggshell as a liming material in an Ultisol in Umudike, Southeastern Nigeria. The ground eggshell was applied at the rates of 0, 2, 4 and 6 tons per hectare and compared with commercial lime (CaCO3) applied at 0.5 tons per hectare. Each of the treatment was added to 100 g of soil in plastic containers of equal size and basal diameter and replicated three times. The soil pH (in H20) and total calcium were determined on the incubated samples first at 24 hours, then at 2 4, 6 and 8 weeks of incubation, using standard laboratory procedures. The results showed that 6 tons/ha ground eggshell significantly (P<0.05) increased soil pH over all the other treatments throughout the period of incubation. The rates of ground eggshell application at 6 tons! ha indicated a constant change in pH value of 6.6 during 24 hours, 2 weeks and 4 weeks of incubation then slightly reduced to 6.3 and 6.1 at 6 weeks and 8 weeks respectively. The values of soil total calcium were generally low after the period of incubation; the 0, 2, 4 and 6 tons/ha ground eggshell gave results which cannot be attributed to the effects of treatment while 0.5 tons/ha CaCO3significantly (P>