Influence of Poultry Manure on Aggregate Stability and Infiltration Rates of a Disturbed Sandy Loam Soil

Abstract

An evaluation of soil aggregate stability and infiltration rate is significant in the assessment of soil management practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of poultry manure on aggregate stability and infiltration rate on a disturbed sandy loam soil of Bauchi. Poultry manure was applied at 0, 10, 15, 20, and 25 Mg/ha at three replications in a completely random design. Four weeks after, aggregate stability and infiltration rates were determined by wet sieving method and double ring infiltrometer respectively. Treatment levels showed an increase in aggregate stability of the soil by mean weight diameter (MWD) indices from 0.337mm (control ) to 0.473 – 0.934mm (for 10 – 25Mg/ha treatments).Infiltration rates also showed a significant increase as the manure was added from 1.3mm/min for the control plot, to 2.7 – 3mm/min for 10 – 25 Mg/ha treatment levels respectively. The results also indicates that application of poultry manure did significantly (P ˂ 0.05) affects aggregate stability and infiltration as determined by ANOVA. It was then concluded that poultry manure was effective in increasing soil aggregate stability and infiltration rates, but decreasing bulk density from 1.35g/cm³ for control plot to 1.33 – 1.25 g/cm³ for 10 – 25M g/ha treatment levels in the tillage zones.

Keywords: – Aggregate stability, Poultry manure, Infiltration rates, Treatment levels, Sandy Loam and Bulk density.