The effects of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on hydrological and physical properties, growth and yield of garden eggs (Solanum melongena) in a sandy soil
Loading...
Date
2010-08-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Field experiment was conducted during the rainy season at the experimental field of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Collage of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST to test the effects of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on the hydrophysical properties of a sandy soil, growth and yield of garden eggs. There were five treatments with five replications. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design. Data were collected on the following soil physical and hydraulic properties: bulk density, total porosity, aeration porosity, gravimetric water content, volumetric water content, infiltration amount, sorptivity, aggregate stability, steady state infiltrability and hydraulic conductivity. Plant height, leaf area index and yield were the plant parameters collected on the garden eggs. The poultry manure decreased the dry bulk density, increased the total porosity, increased the moisture content, decreased infiltration amount and hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand plant height, leaf area index and yield increased with increase poultry manure application. However, there were no significant improvement in aggregate stability and aeration porosity. The mineral fertilizer did not show any significant improvement in any of the parameters. Poultry manure was therefore found to improve the hydrophysical properties of the sandy soil, growth and yield of garden eggs. The significant decreases in water entry and movement suggest that poultry manure application can minimize excessive leaching of plant nutrients in sandy soil.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Faculty of Agriculture
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi
in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Msc.in Soil Science.