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Effect of different tillage practices and fertilizer on soil physical and chemical properties in Umuokanne Ohaji-Egbema Imo southeast, Nigeria
Abstract
The assessment of selected soil properties under different tillage practices and fertilizer in Imo State, Nigeria, was carried out at the Agro-Forestry centre, Umuokanne Ohaji-Egbema. The treatments consisted of fallow (control); zero tillage and manure (ZM); conventional tillage, fertilizer and manure (CFM); conventional tillage and fertilizer (CF), and minimum tillage and manure (MM).Soil samples were collected from three (3) different depths of 0- 15, 15-30 and 30-45cm from each of the treatments. The fertilizer application rate for inorganic fertilizer was 200kg/ha while the organic manure (poultry manure) was applied at the rate of 500kg/ha. The result revealed that sand fraction dominated soil particle size distribution in the study area. The values of soil bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, total porosity, moisture content, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, pH, organic carbon content, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium and magnesium were ranging from 1.35-1.44g/cm3, 0.2-0.37cm/s, 45.08-48.93%, 6.4-13.87%, 6-12.3cm/hr, 8.2-
14.63%, 5.31-5.82, 0.78-1.34%, 0.26-0.30%, 3.64-4.57mg/kg, 0.28-0.39cmol+/kg, 0.92-1 .64cmol+/kg and 0.62-0.98cmol+/kg for Agro-Forestry Umuokanne Ohaji-Egbema, respectively,. The analyzed soil properties showed significant difference at P=0.05 Correlation analyses showed that soil bulk density had a negative relationship with the analyzed soil properties while other soil properties had positive relationship with each other. This implies that increase in soil bulk density reduces other soil properties. This study showed that tillage practices such as zero tillage and minimum tillage with the applications of manure improved soil physical and chemical properties and should be encouraged in the study area.
Keywords: Conservation, Egbema Fertilizer, Soil and Tillage
