Nitrogen uptake in cow dung and poultry manure treated maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) under different irrigation intervals in Sudan Savanna Ecology, Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract

Field trials were conducted at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching and Research Vegetable farm, Sokoto in 2018 and 2019 dry seasons to evaluate the effect of irrigation intervals, manure types and rates on nitrogen uptake in maize. The treatments consisted of four irrigation intervals (3, 6, 9 and 12 days), two manure types (cow dung and poultry manure) applied at four rates (0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5t/ha). The experiment was laid in split-split design replicated three times. Data on the dry matter content and percentage nitrogen content of stover and grains were collected for obtaining the maize N uptake. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using statistix 10.0 statistical package. The results obtained indicated that the treatments significantly (P<0.05) influenced the uptake of nitrogen in maize. Increasing irrigation days interval reduced N uptake considerably which had negative effect on the overall yield of maize. Poultry manured maize absorbed higher nitrogen relative to cow dung and the amount of N absorbed increased with increasing rate of manure application. Conclusively, application of 7.5t/ha poultry manure under 3 days irrigation interval ensured greater N uptake of maize.