Abstract
Hydrogen cyanide is the dominant element in cassava mill effluent with several toxicological implications. Physiochemical analysis was carried out on the soil samples gotten from three different cassava tuber processing mills located at Amaoba, Umuarigha I, and Umuarigha II in Ikwuano Local Government area of Abia state. The parameters investigated were pH, nitrogen, phosphorous, organic carbon, organic matter; others were the sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium contents. All the afore-mentioned parameters were also analyzed for control sample. The result showed that there was an increase in soil pH, nitrogen and magnesium content of the cassava mill soils. The effect on plant growth rate was studied using maize and cowpea as test crops. The number of leaves, stem girth and length was recorded for a period of eight (8) weeks. The result after eight (8) weeks showed that the growth rate of seedlings on the soil of the three different cassava mills was rapid more than that of the control. This research shows that the cyanide content of the cassava mill effluent had a stimulatory effect on the parameters measured and could serve as an efficient source of nutrient to the soil and thus to crops, making it an alternative to mineral fertilisers.
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