SOIL N, UPTAKE AND YIELD OF MAIZE AS INFLUENCED BY INTEGRATED NITROGEN SOURCES
2nd Biennial Conference
Authors
Abstract
Integration of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients constitutes a solution to achieving food security.
Experiment was carried out at Oyo State College of Agriculture Research Farm, Igboora, from 2016 to 2018 to
study the effects of different nitrogen sources on soil nitrogen, uptake and maize yield. The experiment was laid
out in a Randomized Complete Block design replicated three times. The treatments included control, compost
(CM), poultry manure (PTM), pig manure (PGM) and Cowdung (CD) at 5t/ha, NPK (120kg/ha) and their
integrations (CM + NPK, PTM + NPK, PGM + NPK and CD + NPK) at 2.5t/ha and 60kg/ha. Soil nitrogen, Nuptake
and yield with their residual were determined. Higher yield of maize was obtained with NPK and its
integration with organic amendments at first planting. However, the residual effects resulted in maize yield as
follows; CM (6.00t/ha) > PTM (5.84t/ha) > PGM (5.33t/ha) CD (4.93t/ha) > NPK (3.60t/ha) > NPK+CM
(4.53t/ha) > NPK+PTM (4.40t/ha) > NPK+PGM (4.00t/ha) > NPK+CD (3.37t/ha) > Control (2.4t/ha). Sole
compost performed best in improving soil nitrogen and resulted in highest maize yield at second planting. Similar
trends were observed with nitrogen uptake at 4, 8 and 12 weeks after planting while soil nitrogen follows the
same pattern shown by the yield at first and second planting. Application of NPK at 60kg/ha with compost at
2.5t/ha are recommended in the short run and for sustainable yield, the use of composted organic manures at
5t/ha integrated with farmyard manures and crop residues are recommended for maize production by resourcepoor
farmers.
Keywords
Soil nitrogen, N-uptake, yield, integrated, maize
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