FUW TRENDS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(A Peer Review Journal)
e–ISSN: 2408–5162; p–ISSN: 2048–5170
keywords: Alfisol, maize grain yield, management practices, manure, soil nitrogen, urea
Field experiments were carried out in two locations to determine the effects of cow dung subjected to different management practices, time of application and Urea fertilizer levels on the nitrogen content of the soil and maize grain yield in an Alfisol in Samaru, Zaria Nigeria. The experiment consisted of collection of cow dung and subjecting it to three different management practices (surface heaped uncovered, surface heaped covered and pit covered). There were four different types of manure ageing in the field (March – 3 months, April – 2 months, May – 1 month and June – 0 month) and two levels of nitrogen (zero – N0 and 45 kg N ha -1 – N2). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design, replicated three times. The results show that, manure management practices affected the total soil nitrogen significantly (P greather than 0.05) at harvest in location 2. The months of application had significant (P greater than 0.05) effects on both the nitrogen values in the soil and maize grain yield, though there was no consistency in the two locations. The application of nitrogen at 45 kg N ha -1 consistently gave higher values of soil nitrogen and maize grain yield in the field at both direct and residual effects.
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