Journal of
Soil Science and Environmental Management

  • Abbreviation: J. Soil Sci. Environ. Manage.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2391
  • DOI: 10.5897/JSSEM
  • Start Year: 2010
  • Published Articles: 315

Full Length Research Paper

Growth of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) on degraded isohyperthermic arenic kandiudult amended with Oyster shell in a university farm, Southeastern, Nigeria

E. U. Onweremadu1*, J. D. Njoku2, B. O. A. Anene3 and C. Chikere-Njoku4
1Department of Soil Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, PMB 1526 Owerri, Nigeria. 2Department of Environmental Science and Technology Federal University of Technology, PMB 1526 Owerri, Nigeria. 3Department of Soil Science and Technology, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. 4Department of Soil Science and Environmental Management, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 29 November 2012
  •  Published: 31 December 2012

Abstract

We studied effect of 6 rates of ground oyster shell (GOS) on the growth characteristics of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in 2007 cropping season. It was a greenhouse experiment arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with 6 rates of 0, 250, 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 g/5 kg soil and replicated 4 times. Soil samples were subjected to routine laboratory analyses while growth measurements were also made on root and shoot parts of the test crop. Soil and crop data were analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. Rates of GOS had significant (p = 0.05) effect of root length and root numbers at 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63 days after planting (DAP). There were significant (p = 0.05) effects of GOS on some soil properties at post harvest stage of this study. There was significant (p = 0.05) positive correlation between GOS and Ca content while it related negatively with total exchangeable acidity (r = 0.95; p = 0.05).

 

Key words: Amendment, Arachis hypogaea, degradation, growth, tropical soils.