Conducted by NwSSU
, Started on 2018 -
Completed on 2019
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Poultry litter char (PLC) is one of the high valued fertilizer rich in nutrients and locally available, however, limited published data are available on its effects on crops and soil properties.The study was conducted to determine the optimum rate of poultry litter char enhancing growth and yield of corn and evaluate its effect on the physico-chemical properties of degraded upland soil. Five treatments using 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 tons of PLC ha-1 were used in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that poultry litter char application significantly increased the plant height, resulted to earlier tasseling, fruiting and harvesting of corn and increased their yield particularly number of fruits, fruit yield, ear length, weight of 1000 seeds and stover yield as well. In addition, corn tissue was found to have a considerable amount of nitrogen and phosphorus. On the other hand, addition of PLC significantly improved the physico-chemical properties of degraded soil such as reduction of soil strength, increased soil porosity and soil water holding capacity and increased pH, % OC, total N, Extractable P, Exchangeable K and Ca. The study recommends an application rate of 20 t ha-1 of PLC to improve the growth and yield of corn and enhance the properties of highly degraded soil and 2.5 t ha-1 PLC to gain a higher return on investment.