Abstract
ABSTRACT Small-scale farmers still rely mostly on chemical fertilizers (CF) for crop production. Recently, CF have become expensive and could in some way have a negative impact on soil quality after long-term application. However, co-application of biogas slurry (BGS) with CF could help reduce farming costs while improving crop production and soil health. The study was a field experiment conducted in 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 growing seasons and arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The treatments were based on percentages of recommended Nitrogen (N) rates of 120 kg N ha−1 for maize production. The BGS/CF treatments were (i) 0/0, (ii) 0/120, (iii) 24/96, (iv) 48/72, (v) 72/48, (vi) 96/24, (vii) 120/0 kg N ha−1. BGS/CF (48/72) treatment resulted into higher dry matter yield in 2016–2017, which was higher than all other treatment combinations, while in the 2017–2018 season, treatment of (0/120) resulted into higher dry matter than all other treatment combinations. The (48/72) and (0/120) treatments resulted into similar grain yield in 2016–2017 season. (48/72), (72/48), and (120/0) treatments had higher N, P, K, Ca, and Mg uptake than (0/0), (0/120), 26 (24/96), and (96/24) treatments in both seasons. Soil pH, total N, K, and Mg were high from (120/0) than all other treatments in 2016–2017 while in the 2017–2018, (48/72), had higher OC, P, and K after maize harvest. The findings of this study show that co-application of BGS/CF at 48/72 and 72/48 have maize yield benefits compared to the two resources, BGS/CF (120/0) and BGS/CF (0/120), applied separately in soil.
Published Version
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