TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing Nutrient Potentials of a Soil Continuously Cropped with Xanthosoma sagittifolia (L) in Onisere Ondo State, Nigeria
AU - Erhabor, J.O. AU - Molindo, W.A.
JO - Agricultural Journal
VL - 5
IS - 4
SP - 269
EP - 272
PY - 2010
DA - 2001/08/19
SN - 1816-9155
DO - aj.2010.269.272
UR - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=aj.2010.269.272
KW - Assessing
KW -nutrients
KW -potentials
KW -soil
KW -cocoyam
KW -Onisere
KW -Nigeria
AB - Field studies were carried out in Onisere, Ondo State, located between latitude 6° 41 N and longitude 5° 11 E of South Western Nigeria. The aims were to assess the nutrients potentials of a soil continuously cropped with (cocoyams) Xanthosoma sagittifolia (L). The soil order is Alfisols developed from basement complex rocks and locally classified as Owo series of Ondo associations. The studies investigated the potentials of the soil to retain nutrients. Therefore, using this quality of the soil nutrient retention potential as a bench mark to encourage farmers to grow cocoyam continuously for a reasonable period without applying inorganic fertilizers. Randomly collected soil samples before and after planting during the cropping, seasons were subjected to laboratory analyses. The results showed significant (p = 0.05 ) difference in soil N, P, K, Mg, Ca, Na, OM and pH within the period of continuous cropping. However, yield were not significantly (p = 0.05) different but morphological parameters (leaves numbers, plants heights and stems girths) differ significantly (p = 0.05 ) during the three seasons of continuous cropping. The experiment proved that the nutrients potentials of the soil sustained the continuous growth of cocoyam for a period of three cropping seasons. The potential nutrients retention of this soil was encouraged by its inherent nutrients and characteristics. Therefore, farmers may be advised to grow cocoyam in this soil without being apprehensive of inorganic fertilizer applications.
ER -