INCREASING THE USE EFFICIENCY OF APPLIED PHOSPHATE FERTILIZER BY CROPS ON NIGERIAN ACID SOILS
By
Author
Presented To
Department of Agricultural Science
ABSTRACT
| Phosphorus deficiency is a major constraint that limits food production in Nigeria, especially under acidic soil conditions. Presently, successful production of high nutrient requiring crops such as maize is only possible with the use of inorganic phosphate fertilizers which are very costly and often unavailable to the farmer. In an attempt to address this problem, field trials were conducted on two fields located at Samaru (11011'N,7038,E) and one field at Heipang (9°38'N, 8°53'E) to evaluate the response of various cover crops and maize to native and applied phosphate, and to evaluate the effects of these treatments on the performance and P nutrition of succeeding maize in rotation. The two locations selected for the trials had widely contrasting soil phosphate properties. Samaru soil, classified as Kanhaplic Haplustalf following the USDA soil taxonomy system, had low P sorption capacity with pH values of 5.5, available soil P concentration of between 6.04 to 9.86 and total P content of between 154 to 196 mg Kg"1. Heipang soil on the other hand, was classified as Typic plinthustult and had very high P fixing capacity with pH value of 5.4, available soil P concentration of 0.69, and total P content of 473 mg Kg"1. Results of the study at Samaru showed that among the cover crops evaluated, Crotalaria ochroleuca was the most P efficient in terms of total amount of above ground biomass per unit P taken up, while Phaseolus vulgaris (brown) and Clitoria ternatea were the least efficient. The yield of maize preceded by Lablab purpureus (white), Lablab v i purpureus (black), Chamaechsta rotundifolia, and Mucuna pruriens was increased by over 50% at Samaru in the first year after cover cropping. The positive effects of these cover crops on yield of succeeding maize did not manifest in the second. On Heipang soil, with high P sorption capacity, only Chamaecrista rotundifolia produced some significant improvement in the performance of succeeding maize in terms of height and stover yield. However, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, Zeamay intercropped with Chamaecrista rotundifolia, Mucuna pruriens (white), and Lablab purpureus (white) reduced the leaf Al concentration of succeeding maize by more than 38% at Heipang. Effects of Sokoto phosphate rock on maize yields and available soil P at Samaru started manifesting only in the third year of cropping when the soil P was sufficiently depleted (< 5.0 mg Kg"1) to force the dissolution of phosphate rock. At Heipang, on the other hand, where the available soil P was extremely low (< 1 mg Kg"1), the effect of Sokoto phosphate rock on maize yield manifested in both years of cropping. Optimum yield of maize at Samaru was obtained with the application of 30 Kg P ha*1 in form of single superphosphate., while at Heipang even the application of 60 Kg P ha'1 did not produce optimum yield. Application of 1.35 t CaO ha"1 to Heipang soil in 1997 significantly raised the soil pH value by about 0.2 and improved the total P uptake of maize grains but did not improve available soil P and grain yield. |
PLEASE NOTE:
That this Material is a Complete Project, Well Written and Contains 1 to 5 Chapters.
Click the download Button Below to Download the complete work. OR Call/WhatsApp Admin on: 09019904113 for Inquiry. Thank You
- FOR ENQUIRY
- support@e-projecttopics.com
- 09019904113
Learn and Obtain Diploma in Web development, Software development, Business, Technology and Creative Skills taught by industry experts. Explore a wide range of skills with our professional tutorials.
About E-Project Material Centre
E-Project Material Centre is a web service aimed at successfully assisting final year students with quality, well researched, reliable and ready made project work. Our materials are recent, complete (chapter 1 to Minimum of Chapter 5, with references) and well written.INSTANT ACCESS! INSTANT DOWNLOAD. Simply select your department, choose from our list of topics available and explore your data
Why Students Love to Use E-Project Material ?
Guaranteed Delivery Getting your project delivered on time is essential. You cannot afford to turn in your project past the deadline. That is why you must get your project online from a company that guarantees to meet your deadline. e-Project Topics Material Centre is happy to offer instant delivery of projects listed on our website. We can handle just about any deadline you send our way. Satisfaction Guaranteed We always do whatever is necessary to ensure every customer's satisfaction
Disclaimer
E-Project Topics Material Centre will only provide projects as a reference for your research. The projects ordered and produced should be used as a guide or framework for your own project. The contents of the projects should be able to help you in generating new ideas and thoughts for your own project. It is the aim of e-Project Topics Centre to only provide guidance by which the projects should be pursued. We are neither encouraging any form of plagiarism nor are we advocating the use of the projects produced herein for cheating.
Terms and Condition
Using our service is LEGAL and IS NOT prohibited by any university/college policies You are allowed to use the original model papers you will receive in the following ways:
- As a source for additional understanding of the subject
- As a source for ideas for you own research (if properly referenced)
- For PROPER paraphrasing ( see your university definition of plagiarism and acceptable paraphrase) Direct citing ( if referenced properly)