Abstract

Organic manures are known to have the ability of supplying both the required macro and micro plant nutrients but in low quantities and usually not early enough for quick utilization. Enriching the manure combats the deficiency of late and low supply of nutrients. Experiments were conducted to assess the growth and yield of maize with Nitrogen-enriched cow dung. This was compared with performance with inorganic NPK fertilization and no fertilizer control. Maize growth was significantly (P = 0.05) affected by application of an enriched cow dung. The plants were comparable in height and leaf area with inorganic fertilizer. Fertilization of maize gave significantly (P = 0.05) higher grain yields. Fortified cow dung gave an average yield of 3.78 t ha^-1 while inorganic fertilizer gave a yield of 3.70 t ha^-1. The unfertilized control plants had an average yield of 2.47 t ha^-1. Yield from the enriched cow dung was comparable with yield from inorganic fertilization. This shows the potential of the use of N-enriched cow dung as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers. Fortified cow dung increased soil N, P and K contents by 25, 1 and 62%, respectively. It also increased the soil Ca and Mg contents by 2 and 8%, respectively.  Decomposed cow dung, fortified with Nitrogen can be applied at 2.5 t ha^-1 to cultivate maize. It gives a comparable yield as inorganic fertilizer and increases the soil N, P, K, Ca and Mg contents.  

Key words: Maize, growth, yield, cow dung, N-fortification, soil nutrients.