Tue Effect O Ash And Poultry Manure On Some Soil Properties And Yield Of Maize (Zea Mays) In An Acid Soil At Umudike In South Eastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT

A factorial experiment was designed to determine the complementary effects of ash and poultry manure (PM) on some soil properties and yield of maize. There were 3 levels of ash and 3 levels of poultry manure (PM) making 9 treatments combinations that were replicated 3 times to give a total number o127 plots. Data were collected on plants' growth and soils were sampled at 3, 6, 9, and 12 WAP and prepared for laboratory analysis. 1rom the results obtained, it could he inferred that treatments were effective in improving soil properties and yield of maize. Eight tolis of PM gave the highest mean value on leaf area and dry matters yield followed by 6 tons of Ash where treatments interactions were not significant at P 0.05. The results Of plants' height and cob dry weight showed that the combination of 6 tons of Ash and 8 tons of PM gave the highest mean values of 132.5cm and 7146.63kg respectively. Results from the soil parameters showed that treatments were effective in improving the soil properties. here, the combination of 6 tons of Ash and 8 Ions of PM gave the best effect on soil organic matter content, total exchangeable bases, effective cation exchange capacity, % base saturation, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable K, exchangeable Na and exchangeable acidity. For exchangeable Mg and available P combination of 3 tons of Ash and 8 tons of PM gave the highest mean values. however, Ash showed a high significant increase in soil pH with the highest mean value obtained at 3 tons of Ash against 6 tons of Ash. Generally, the sequence of treatments efficiency on soil properties and yield of maize is summarized as follow; 6/8, 3/8, 0/8, 6/4, 3/4, 6/0, 3/0, 0/4, 0/0 tons of Ash and Poultry Manure (PM) respectively.