Effects of soil compaction and fertilizers on performance of maize (<i>Zeamays</i>) planted in a sandy loam soil in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

An appropriate levels of soil compaction and fertilizers is necessary to create an optimum seed bed condition for optimum crop growth and yield. Experiment was carried out to investigate the performance of maize (Zeamays) in terms of stem diameter, crop height and yield when planted in sandy loam soil incorporated with organic manure (cow dung) and inorganic fertilizer N.P.K. at different levels of soil compaction. A sandy loam soil was subjected to compaction of different tractor traffic of 0,5,10, and 15 passes of MF 180 tractor with tyre inflation pressure of 31 kpa before crop sowing in a complete randomized block design experiment. The crop was sown to depths of 5 cm at 30 cm between raw and 40 cm within row. The fertilizers were applied to the plots at the rate of 120 kg/ha. Plant heights and stem diameter of the crop were measured at an interval of two weeks after planting till the time of harvest. Results indicate that the crop stem diameter and height vary throughout the growing period of the crop for the various levels of soil compaction and the fertilizers incorporated in the soils. Highest mean crop stem diameters, heights and yields of 15.45 and 18.74 mm, 103.50 and 134.86 cm, 2.90 and 4.02 t/ha were obtained for zero tractor pass (control) in the study area, respectively. Generally, for this study, maize performance decreases with increase in soil compaction. There was a high significant difference between the crop stem diameters, heights and yields even for the same treatment in the study area. N.P.K. fertilizer performed better than cow dung in improving the yield of maize planted in sandy loam soil for the various levels of soil compaction.