International Journal of Scientific Research in Agricultural Sciences

16-22

Authors: Abdul Aziz Khalid, Henry Oppong Tuffour, Mensah Bonsu

Field experiment was conducted during the 2008 major rainy season at the experimental field of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, KNUST to test the effects of poultry manure (PM) and NPK fertilizer on the hydrological properties of a sandy soil. There were five treatments with five replications. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design. Data were collected on the following soil properties: cumulative infiltration amount (I), sorptivity (S), steady state infiltrability (Ko) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). At the end of the experiment the control plot recorded the highest values of I, S, and Ko as 257 mm, 3.90 mm/s1/2 and 0.07 mm/s, respectively. However the highest Ks was recorded as 1.72×10-4 on the sole NPK-incorporated plot which showed no significant difference from that recorded on the control plot (1.69×10-4). Conversely, the plot with 9 t/ha PM recorded the lowest I value (159 mm). In the same way, the incorporation of poultry manure led to a significant decrease in S, Ko and Ks. The lowest S value was recorded on the 7 t/ha plots as 2.34 mm/s1/2. However, Ko and Ks were lowest on the 9 t/ha plot as 0.04 mm/s1/2 and 1.17×10-4 mm/s, respectively. Overall, the mineral fertilizer did not show any significant improvement in any of the parameters. Poultry manure was therefore found to improve the hydrological properties of the sandy soil. The significant decreases in water entry and movement suggest that poultry manure application can minimize excessive leaching of plant nutrients in sandy soil.