Effect Of Algal Compost On Soil PH Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) And Aggregate Stability

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted in the Soil Science laboratory study of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, to investigate the effect of algal compost on soil H, cation exchange capacity and aggregate stability. The experiment was a 3 x 3 x 3 factorial in completely randomized design and soil samples were collected from 0 — 20cm of sandy loam soil from the University western farm. The treatments applied were a combination of algae and poultry manure (AC) and the single application of the poultry manure (PM) alone and a control and the amendment rates were 0%, 10% and 20%, respectively. Each treatment was replicated three times. Results showed that the composted amendments influenced all the soil properties at P < 0.001. The influence on these properties increased as the rate of amendment and sampling duration increased. The results also showed that algal compost was more effective in improving the aggregate stability, CEC and nitrogen than the poultry manure alone, while the poultry manure alone was more effective in improving the soil H, available phosphorus and the organic carbon. The linear correlation between the aggregate stability and other parameters were highly positive, suggesting that the aggregate stability increased as these other parameters were increased.