Soil Quality And Maize Yield As Influenced By Tillagelegume Management And Fertilizer Rates In Samaru Alfisols Nigeria

This study was conducted in 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons at the Institute forAgricultural Research (IAR) farm, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to determinetillage/legume practice that affects soil quality most and also to develop strategies forefficient use of inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers to improve maizeproductivity. The trial was established in 2010 and repeated in 2011 at the IARmeteorological site (11010’58”N, 7037’0”E) in the Northern Guinea Savanna ecology ofNigeria. Soils in the experimental site were classified as Typic Haplustalf (USDA) andAcrisols (FAO/UNESCO). The experiment was laid out in a split plot design andreplicated three times. The main plots (255m2), consisted of three tillage practices{Conventional Tillage plus Centrosema pascuorum (CT+Cp), Conventional Tillagewithout Centrosema pascuorum (CT) and Permanent cover plus Centrosema pascuorum(PC+Cp)} and three Nitrogen fertilizer rates (NFR) (60, 80 and 100 kg N ha-1) while thesub plots (75m2) consisted of three Phosphorus fertilizer rates (PFR) (6.6, 13.2 and 26.4kg P ha-1). Results show that treatment CT+Cp had least bulk density which wassignificantly (P≤0.05) lower than the other tillage plots. Plots that received 100 kg N ha-1 and 13.2 kg P ha-1 had the least bulk density which was significantly (P≤0.05) betterthan other nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) rates at the end of the cropping season.Treatment CT+Cp resulted in a significantly (P≤0.05) higher mean weight diameter(MWD) of aggregates than the other tillage treatments. pH however decreased slightlyunder CT+Cp and CT and increased under PC+Cp. Differences in soil pH however,were not significant and decrease was not sufficient to hamper crop growth. TreatmentCT+Cp had organic carbon content value that was significantly (P≤0.05) higher thanother treatments. Plots with 100 kg N ha-1 and 26.4 kg P ha-1 gave better organic carboncontents statistically. CT had significantly (P≤0.05) higher content of available P at theixend of trial while CT+Cp had the least. Cation Exchange Capacity was better improvedstatistically under PC+Cp. Treatments with 60 kg N ha-1 and 6.6 kg P ha-1 had betterCEC values statistically. CT+Cp showed significant (P≤0.05) increase in maize yieldover the other treatments with yield of over 3.67 t ha-1 at the end of the 2011 croppingseason. Effect of decreased bulk density, increased mean weight diameter, reducedexchange acidity and improved CEC and ECEC with years would imply that soilhealth/quality over the years had been positively impacted upon by the managementpractices. However, CT+Cp at 100 kg N ha-1 and 13.2 kg P ha-1 proved superior inimproving both soil health and maize productivity with a percentage rise in yield of 2.51% over CT and 70.6 % over PC+Cp and is therefore recommended for sustainablemaize production in Samaru Alfisols, Nigeria.

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