Agronomy Journal Grow Your Career With ASA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published online 1 September 1972
Published in Agron J 64:641-644 (1972)
© 1972 American Society of Agronomy
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Agboola, A.
Right arrow Articles by Fayemi, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Agboola, A.
Right arrow Articles by Fayemi, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Agboola, A.
Right arrow Articles by Fayemi, A.

Effect of Soil Management on Corn Yield and Soil Nutrients in the Rain Forest Zone of Western Nigeria1

Akinola Agboola and Adeboyejo Fayemi2

The problem of maintaining soil fertility by shifting cultivation is becoming increasingly difficult in Nigeria as rapid population growth places more strain on land resources, thereby decreasing the fallow period. Researchers are therefore confronted with the difficulty of finding an alternative low-cost farming system that can maintain soil fertility.

An experiment on soil management practices involving both interplanted legume crops in rotation plus fertilizer was set up to investigate the above problem. The experiment was conducted in Ibadan, Nigeria, which has an annual rainfall of 140 cm and average temperature of 25 C. The experiment was located on Iwo soil series with unusually high available P (100 kg/ha) and exchangeable K (600 kg/ha), soil pH of 6.5, and CEC 15 meq/100g.

The results show that fertilizer (55-10-55 kg/ha of NP-K) increased yields of corn (Zea mays L.) from 1,510 to 2,460 kg/ha. Legumes [greengram (Phaseolus aureus), cowpea (Vigna sinensis), and calopo (Calopogonium muccunoides)] either interplanted or rotated also increased the yield of corn. The magnitude of the increase for calopo was equivalent to that for the fertilizer. Legumes tended to conserve available P and exchangeable K in the surface soil.

Key Words: Iwo soil series • Rain forest zone • Alternate farming system

1 Contribution from University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

2 Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Received for publication November 8, 1971.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Crop Science Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Soil Science Society of America Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1972 by the American Society of Agronomy.