Effect of Mini-Doses of Compost on Maize Development and Yield at the Refugee Site in Maro in the Greater Sido Region of Chad

Abstract

Chemical fertilizers are polluting for the environment, they are expensive and sometimes inaccessible to producers. With the arrival of refugees from the Central African Republic in Maro in southern Chad, arable land is reduced and soils have become impoverished. An alternative use of locally available organic fertilizers is possible to improve agricultural productivity. The Refugees do not have enough livestock to produce the 5 to 10 t/ha of manure that is recommended for maize cultivation. The objective of the study is to determine the minimum dose of compost that can increase corn productivity. The plant material is composed of 2009 TZEE-W-STR corn variety, with a 90-day cycle. The trial is conducted according to an experimental Fisher block design with 5 treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T0) with 4 replicates. The mini-compost doses (20 g, 40 g, 60 g, 80 g and NPK dose equivalent to 100 kg/ha) correspond respectively to the T1, T2, T3, T4 and T0 control treatments. The results revealed that T0 (16.80 cm ± 0.106) had the longest cob, T1 (14.52 cm ± 0.29) had the lowest cob length. The best biomasses were obtained on T0 (5.14 kgm-2 ± 0.098) and T4 (5.13 kgm-2 ± 0.12), while T2 and T1 recorded the low biomasses. T4 (3.02 tha-1 ± 0.035) and T3 (3.02 tha-1 ± 0.087) obtained better yields, the low yield was observed on T1 (2.33 tha-1 ± 0.055). The T0 (0.253 kg ± 0.005) recorded the best grain weight. T3 and T1 obtained the low grain weights. T2 gave the same results as T4 and T3, which are the high rates of compost and the T0 control. The T2 treatment corresponding to 40 g compost/pocket would be recommended to refugees to increase maize production.