Agrowastes Potentials in Releasing Soil form of Nitrogen

A laboratory incubation study to determine the decomposition rate of Sunflower (SF), Gliricidia sepium (GL), Kola Pod Husk (KPH), and Cocoa Pod Husk (CPH) on soil forms of nitrogen was carried out at the Department of Agricultural Science, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo South-Western Nigeria. The soil sample was collected from the farmers’ field in Ondo. The soil was air-dried and sieved through a 2mm diameter laboratory sieve. 200g of the soil samples were weighed into cups and 1g of each CPH, SF, GL and KPH was added. The treatments were replicated five times to give 45 cups of soil samples and arranged on a Completely Randomised Design. The cups were covered with absorbents. The treatments were analysed 30, 60 and 90 days to determine total N, NO3-N and NH4-N using destructive analytical method. Compared with control, all the treatments significantly increased total N and NO3-N while SF and GL significantly increased (p <0.05) NH4-N at 30 days of incubation. All the treatments significantly increased (p <0.05) total N, NH4-N and NO3-N at 60 and 90 days. Cocoa Pod Husk had the highest increase in total N while KPH recorded the highest NH4-N and NO3-N. Cocoa Pod Husk (CPH), KPH, GL and SF could be used to increase soil forms of N for optimum crop production in Ondo, South-Western Nigeria.