Studies on soil amended with poultry manure and its effects on yield and yield components of pumpkin

Abstract

Studies on soil amended with poultry manure (PM) and its effects on some growth parameters of pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata (Duch. ex Lam.) Duch. ex Poir. were conducted at the University of Port Harcourt Botanical Garden. Six treatments viz; 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 tons of poultry manure per hectare (t PM/ha) were used in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replicates. Treatments were applied in a single dose at two week-old seedlings of C. moschata using ring method. The effects of these treatments on leaf area (LA), stem diameter (SD) and number of leaves (NL) were monitored weekly while fresh weight and dry weight of C. moschata were determined 6 weeks after planting (WAP). Soil organic matter (OM), organic carbon (OC), ash content, pH and nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Na and Mg) levels were also monitored for 0, 2 and 6 weeks. The study showed that poultry manure increased the LA, SD, NL and nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Na and Mg) contents of the soil. The highest leaf area, number of leaves and fresh weights were obtained from PM treatments at 5 t/ha while 3 t/ha gave the highest dry weight and stem diameter. Two weeks after treatment, the concentrations of K, Ca, Na and ash content in the soil were highly increased by 2 t PM/ha whereas 5 t PM/ha gave the highest concentrations of N, Mg, OM and OC content. However, the control (0 t PM/ha) gave the highest P concentration. The study after six weeks showed that 4 t PM/ha gave the highest concentrations of P, Ca and Mg in the soil while 5 t PM/ha gave the highest concentrations of N and K. In most cases, the control recorded the lowest levels. At P<0.05, there were significant difference among treatments. The study recommends an application rate of 5 t PM/ha for the improvement of the soil nutrients.

Keywords: Poultry manure, amended soil, Cucurbita moschata