Fertiliser effectiveness of poultry manure and n-fertiliser value of cattle kraal manure under field conditions.
Mahope, Justice
Mahope, Justice
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Abstract
A study was carried out to determine the residual and application rate effects on the nitrogen fertiliser value (NFV) of cattle kraal manure, to explore the potential of chicken litter to rapidly restore the fertility of nutrient-depleted garden soils in Thulamela, and to find out whether the use of banding or spot placement of chicken litter is a beneficial strategy for use when access to chicken litter is restricted. In a field experiment conducted over two consecutive growing seasons using maize as test crop, nitrogen was applied at 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg N ha-1 both as cattle kraal manure and as urea. This arrangement provided four estimates of the residual effect of the first application on the NFV of cattle kraal manure. To pursue the potential of chicken litter to rapidly restore the fertility of home garden soils, an irrigated field experiment involving a winter and summer crop was conducted in which N, P and K were applied at a high and a low rate in the form of chicken litter and chemical fertilisers. Fertiliser placement effects were investigated at the low rate of nutrient application. The key findings of the study were that cattle kraal manure applied during the first year had a considerable positive effect on the NFV of the cattle manure applied during the second year. This is important, because it confirms that the strategy of applying cattle kraal manure annually to the same parcel of land, which is used by a minority of home gardeners in Thulamela is useful in raising the supply of N to crops. Application rate affected the second-season NFV of cattle kraal manure, which ranged between 20 and 22% when manure was applied at rates of 60 kg N ha-1 and higher and dropped to 14.5% when manure application rate was reduced to 30 kg N ha-1. Applying chicken litter at the rate of 90 kg N ha-1 provided crop productivity levels that were slightly below those of chemical fertiliser for the first crop and slightly above those of chemical fertiliser for the second crop, indicating that chicken litter is a ‘complete fertiliser’, able to supply not only plant available N but also P and K. and able to rapidly restore the fertility of soil that has been depleted of nutrients as a result of nutrient mining. However, the risk of raising soil P to supra-optimal levels, by the continuous application of chicken litter at high rates, was identified. At low rates of application (15 kg N ha-1) band or spot placing instead of broadcasting chicken litter was found to be superior.
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Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree, Magister Technologiae: Agriculture in the Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Science at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2019-11-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Chemical fertilisers, Poultry manure, Nitrogen fertiliser value (NFV), Maize crop, Thulamela