Studies on the Comparative Effects of Cow Dung, Goat Dung and Poultry Manure in the Restoration of Gully Eroded Soil Using Amaranthus hybridus as Test Plant

Abstract

Gully erosion presents a serious challenge to the fertility of the agricultural soil. This experiment was conducted at the permanent site of Nnamdi Azikiwe University behind botany laboratory. The efficacy of cow dung, goat dung and poultry manure on the restoration of gully eroded soil was tested. The experiment was laid in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with five treatments replicated thrice. Five kilogram of eroded soil was mixed uniformly with 1.5 kg of the different manure treatments. This treatment or amendment include goat dung, poultry mature, cow dung mixed with goat dung and poultry manure weighing 0.5 kg respectively to make up the 1.5 kg required treatment. Also another one was set without treatment to serve as control. Each of these treatments was replicated thrice making a sum total of 15 perforated polythene bags. Stem height, leaf area, number of leaves and stem girth of the test plant (A. hybridus) were checked and measured weekly as the plant germinates and grows. Collection of soil analysis of the samples to determine the amounts of carbon and nitrogen was carried out at the end of the practical. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the significance of treatment. It was observed that the highest carbon and nitrogen content were observed from gully eroded soil treated with Cow dung mixed with goat dung and poultry manure (0.205±0.001 and 1.397±0.006) while the least was observed from the control (0.065±0.000 and 0.673±0.001) respectively. There was a significant difference in the effect of the different treatments on all the parameters checked except on the stem girth and number of leaves. The inference of this study suggests that the mixture of cow dung, goat dung and poultry droppings can be used to restore the fertility of gully eroded soil.