Effects of Poultry Manure Application on the Early Seedling Development of Treculia Africana (Breadfruit)

Abstract

This study was carried out to ascertain the effects of different rates of poultry manure on early seedling development of Treculia africana. The experiment was carried out at Nnamdi Azikwe University Awka. Randomized Complete Block Design was used for the study. A total number of 18 perforated poly bags (48cm×40cm) containing 10kg of soil were laid out in the screen house in a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with 6 treatments in 3 replicates. The levels of treatment were, 0.0g, 17g, 34g, 51g, 68g, and 85g of poultry manure per 10kg of soil which were sun-dried to conserve the nutrient properties and for easy handling, weighed properly and incorporated into the soil 2 weeks prior to sowing. Growth parameters such as changes in length, girth, leaf area and number of leaves were measured on bi-weekly bases and recorded accordingly. The physicochemical properties of the soil sample and poultry manure is shown in Table 1. The table revealed that the soil sample contained higher composition of sand than silt and clay. The poultry manure contained higher pH, organic carbon, available phosphorus, potassium ion and calcium ion than the soil samples. The effect of different rates of poultry manure on percentage germination of Treculia africana was shown in Table 2. The result of the effect of different rates of poultry manure on the germination of T. africana revealed that rate of 68g/10kg gave the highest percentage germination of (85.17±0.208 %), 85g/10kg gave the highest increase in stem girth from 1.02±0.026cm in week 2. the number of leaves of T. africana indicated that the rate of 85g/10kg gave the highest increase in the number of leaves from 3.50±0.015 in weeks 2 to 5.01±0.010in weeks 8, while 85g/10kggave the highest increase in leaf area from 26.65±2.904cm2 in weeks 2 to 47.80±0.046cm2 in weeks 8. Due to the ecosystem pollutions caused by use of inorganic materials, this study has demonstrated the potential of poultry manure in enhancing the early seedling growth of T. africana in fairly low nutrient soil. There was an increase growth rate of the seedlings with increasing rates of poultry manure. All the parameters of T. africana seedling responded positively to various rate of poultry manure with the seedlings with 85g/10kg rate of the poultry giving the best performance while the control plants gave the lowest performance.