TESTING SOIL FERTILITY AND BEETROOT (Beta vulgaris L.) PRODUCTIVITY WITH MIXTURES OF BASALT DUST, POULTRY MANURE AND NPK 20-10-10 IN DSCHANG (CAMEROON WESTERN HIGHLANDS)

Primus Azinwi Tamfuh, Georges Martial Ndzana, Jude Thaddeus Nji, Dieudonné Bitondo, Lizette Wirba Ngonjang, Scholarstica Taku Agbor-Ambang, Adeline Ambe Singwa, Emile Temgoua, Dieudonné Bitom

TESTING SOIL FERTILITY AND BEETROOT (Beta vulgaris L.) PRODUCTION WITH MIXTURES OF BASALT DUST, POULTRY MANURE AND NPK 20-10-10 IN DSCHANG (CAMEROON WESTERN HIGHLANDS)

 

 

Primus Azinwi Tamfuh1,2*, Georges Martial Ndzana1, Jude Thaddeus Nji1, Dieudonné Bitondo1, Lizette Wirba Ngonjang1, Scholarstica Taku Agbor-Ambang1, Adeline Ambe Singwa3, Emile Temgoua1, Dieudonné Bitom1

*Corresponding author E-mail: aprimus20@yahoo.co.uk

 

1Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, P. O. Box 222, Dschang, Cameroon.

2Department of Mining and Mineral Engineering, National Higher Polytechnic Institute, University of Bamenda, P. O. Box 39 Bambili, Cameroon.

3Department of nutrition, Food and Bioresource Technology, College of Technology, University of Bamenda, Cameroon, P.O. Box 39, Bambili, Cameroon.

 

 

A R T I C L E  I N F O

Article Type: Research

Received: 07, Oct. 2021.

Accepted: 07, Dec. 2021.

Published: 14, Jan. 2022.

 

 

A B S T R A C T

Faced with constraints like low productivity caused by low soil fertility, there is need to look for eco-friendly low cost technologies to improve soil fertility and boost crop production. This work aims to compare the effects of basalt dust, poultry manure and NPK 20-10-10 on soil fertility and the production of Beetroot (Beta vulgaris). Thus, fieldwork was preceded by laboratory analysis of soil samples. A completely randomized block design (CRBD) on a 128 m2 experimental plot was used to investigate the effects of ten treatments (dose): T0(0), T1 (0.8 t.ha-1  basalt dust), T2 (1.6 t.ha-1 basalt dust), T3 ( basalt dust 3.2 t.ha-1), T4 (0.5 t.ha-1 NPK 20-10-10), T5 (5 t.ha-1 poultry manure), T6 (2.8 t.ha-1 basalt dust + 2.5 poultry manure), T7 (2.8 t.ha-1 basalt dust + 0.25 t.ha-1  NPK 20-10-10 ), T8 (0.25 tons ha-1 NPK 20-10-10 + 2.5 tons ha-1 poultry manure) and T9 (2.8 t.ha-1  basalt dust + 0.25 t.ha-1 NPK 20-10-10 + 2.5 t.ha-1 poultry manure). T0 was very acidic but treatment increased the pH for basalt dust and poultry manure but reduced it for NPK 20-10-10. For yields, the following trend was observed T5>T6>T7>T9>T3>T0 >T4>T1>T2>T8. The economically viable treatments were such that T5>T6>T7>T3>T9, suggesting a reduction in the use of chemical fertilizer and the vulgarization of natural fertilizers poultry manure.

 

Keywords:

Basalt dust, Beta vulgaris, soil fertility, soil remineralisation, Cameroon Western Highlands

 

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