Residual Effect of Mulching on Soil Properties in Makurdi, Southern Guinea Savanna Agroecology of Nigeria
Keywords:
Soil, mulching, organic matter, residual effect and soil propertiesAbstract
The objective of this experiment is to examine the residual effect of mulching on soil properties in Makurdi, Southern Guinea Savanna Agroecology of Nigeria. This study is carried out in the 2016 cropping season as a follow-up research from the 2015 trials at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi. It involves the re-cultivation of an experimental set-up, which has five treatments, 2 and 4t/ha of both dead grasses and sawdust as well as a control which has been replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Soil samples from each treatment are analysed before and after the experiment and percentage changes in the parameters calculated. Results reveal that in addition to soil surface protection, the decomposition of the mulch applied from 4t/ha improved soil physical properties like bulk density and porosity. It also increases chemical properties such as pH, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, cations and base saturation which could significantly improve crop performance. It has demonstrated that the effect of mulching at 4t/ha goes beyond the first season after it is applied on the farm. That when mulches decompose, they release their constituent nutrients into the soil and these can be made available in the succeeding season(s) for crop use.
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