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Physico-chemical properties of a Haplic Acrisol in Southeastern Nigeria amended with rice mill waste and NPK fertilizer


PC Oguike
GO Chukwu
NC Njoku

Abstract

The effect of rice mill waste (RMW) in combination with or without NPK 15:15:15 on some physicochemical properties of a Haplic Acrisol in Umudike, Southeastern Nigeria, was studied. The experiment
comprised 10 treatments (20, 10, 5 and 2.5 t/ha RMW combined with 200 or 400 kg/ha NPK, 30 t/ha RMW alone, 400 kg/ha NPK alone and a control). They were laid in a randomized complete block design
replicated 3 times. Data collected were subjected to analysis of varience. Results showed that relative to the control, application of RMW alone at 30 t/ha increased total porosity (Pt), saturated hydraulic
conductivity (Ksat) and mean weight diameter (MWD) of water stable aggregates significantly by 41.1, 368.2 and 155.8%, respectively, and resulted in 20.9% significant decrease in bulk density (BD).
Improvements by other treatments in the physical parameters when compared to the control were not statistically significant except the application of 20 t RMW + 200 kg NPK/ha on BD and Pt. Similarly, a
combination of 20 t/ha RMW with NPK at 200-400 kg/ha and application of 30 t/ha RMW had significant increase in percent organic matter (OM) over the control treatment, indicating the potentials of RMW in improving physico-chemical properties of poor soils

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eISSN: 1684-5315