Although chemical fertilizers have boosted food production in the last century, their efficiency is limited by their low potential to remineralize and restore chemically depleted soils at long term. This work investigates the comparative effects of basalt dust, poultry manure and NPK 20-10-10 on soil fertility and cucumber performance in Bafut (North-West Cameroon). The work was done in the field and in the laboratory. The experimental plot (82 m2) was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments (and three replications): control (T0), 2.5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T1), 20 tons ha-1 of poultry manure (T2), 0.7 tons ha-1 of NPK 20-10-10 fertilizer (T3) and 5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T4). The main results revealed that T0 showed a sandy clayey loam texture, acidic pH (5.1), very high organic carbon (6.4%), low total nitrogen (0.2%) and moderately available phosphorus (16.70 mg kg-1). The exchangeable complex revealed high K (1.02 cmol (+). kg-1), very low Ca (0.45 cmol (+). kg-1) and Mg2+ (0.17 cmol (+). kg-1), low Na+ (0.2 cmol (+). kg-1), very low sum of exchangeable bases (1.84 cmol (+). kg-1), very low cation exchange capacity (CEC) and a moderate base saturation (43.4%). The C/N was very high (23) indicating very poor quality organic matter and a potentially very slow mineralization rate. After treatment, pH, exchangeable bases Ca and Mg increased after harvest whereas Na and K decreased for all the treatments. The growth and yield parameters of all treatments, except number of fruits, were such that T2>T3>T4>T1>T0. The numbers of fruits were as follows: T2>T4>T3>T1>T0. The most economically viable soil treatment was attained by T2 with a profit rate (PR) of 933% and a VCR value of 10.3. Treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 were all profitable since their value-to cost ratio (VCR)>1, but only T2 and T3 show a VCR (value-to-cost ratio) greater than 2 and are thus recommended for popularization.
Published in | Earth Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 6) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13 |
Page(s) | 323-334 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Basalt Dust, Crop Production, Cucumber, Soil Remineralisation, Bafut, Cameroon Volcanic Line
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APA Style
Primus Azinwi Tamfuh, Pierre Wotchoko, Djibril Gus Kouankap Nono, Carine Naah Yuh Ndofor, David Guimolaire Nkouathio, et al. (2019). Comparative Effects of Basalt Dust, NPK 20-10-10 and Poultry Manure on Soil Fertility and Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Productivity in Bafut (Cameroon Volcanic Line). Earth Sciences, 8(6), 323-334. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13
ACS Style
Primus Azinwi Tamfuh; Pierre Wotchoko; Djibril Gus Kouankap Nono; Carine Naah Yuh Ndofor; David Guimolaire Nkouathio, et al. Comparative Effects of Basalt Dust, NPK 20-10-10 and Poultry Manure on Soil Fertility and Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Productivity in Bafut (Cameroon Volcanic Line). Earth Sci. 2019, 8(6), 323-334. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13
AMA Style
Primus Azinwi Tamfuh, Pierre Wotchoko, Djibril Gus Kouankap Nono, Carine Naah Yuh Ndofor, David Guimolaire Nkouathio, et al. Comparative Effects of Basalt Dust, NPK 20-10-10 and Poultry Manure on Soil Fertility and Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Productivity in Bafut (Cameroon Volcanic Line). Earth Sci. 2019;8(6):323-334. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13
@article{10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13, author = {Primus Azinwi Tamfuh and Pierre Wotchoko and Djibril Gus Kouankap Nono and Carine Naah Yuh Ndofor and David Guimolaire Nkouathio and Dieudonné Bitom}, title = {Comparative Effects of Basalt Dust, NPK 20-10-10 and Poultry Manure on Soil Fertility and Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Productivity in Bafut (Cameroon Volcanic Line)}, journal = {Earth Sciences}, volume = {8}, number = {6}, pages = {323-334}, doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20190806.13}, abstract = {Although chemical fertilizers have boosted food production in the last century, their efficiency is limited by their low potential to remineralize and restore chemically depleted soils at long term. This work investigates the comparative effects of basalt dust, poultry manure and NPK 20-10-10 on soil fertility and cucumber performance in Bafut (North-West Cameroon). The work was done in the field and in the laboratory. The experimental plot (82 m2) was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments (and three replications): control (T0), 2.5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T1), 20 tons ha-1 of poultry manure (T2), 0.7 tons ha-1 of NPK 20-10-10 fertilizer (T3) and 5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T4). The main results revealed that T0 showed a sandy clayey loam texture, acidic pH (5.1), very high organic carbon (6.4%), low total nitrogen (0.2%) and moderately available phosphorus (16.70 mg kg-1). The exchangeable complex revealed high K (1.02 cmol (+). kg-1), very low Ca (0.45 cmol (+). kg-1) and Mg2+ (0.17 cmol (+). kg-1), low Na+ (0.2 cmol (+). kg-1), very low sum of exchangeable bases (1.84 cmol (+). kg-1), very low cation exchange capacity (CEC) and a moderate base saturation (43.4%). The C/N was very high (23) indicating very poor quality organic matter and a potentially very slow mineralization rate. After treatment, pH, exchangeable bases Ca and Mg increased after harvest whereas Na and K decreased for all the treatments. The growth and yield parameters of all treatments, except number of fruits, were such that T2>T3>T4>T1>T0. The numbers of fruits were as follows: T2>T4>T3>T1>T0. The most economically viable soil treatment was attained by T2 with a profit rate (PR) of 933% and a VCR value of 10.3. Treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 were all profitable since their value-to cost ratio (VCR)>1, but only T2 and T3 show a VCR (value-to-cost ratio) greater than 2 and are thus recommended for popularization.}, year = {2019} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Comparative Effects of Basalt Dust, NPK 20-10-10 and Poultry Manure on Soil Fertility and Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Productivity in Bafut (Cameroon Volcanic Line) AU - Primus Azinwi Tamfuh AU - Pierre Wotchoko AU - Djibril Gus Kouankap Nono AU - Carine Naah Yuh Ndofor AU - David Guimolaire Nkouathio AU - Dieudonné Bitom Y1 - 2019/11/19 PY - 2019 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13 DO - 10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13 T2 - Earth Sciences JF - Earth Sciences JO - Earth Sciences SP - 323 EP - 334 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5982 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20190806.13 AB - Although chemical fertilizers have boosted food production in the last century, their efficiency is limited by their low potential to remineralize and restore chemically depleted soils at long term. This work investigates the comparative effects of basalt dust, poultry manure and NPK 20-10-10 on soil fertility and cucumber performance in Bafut (North-West Cameroon). The work was done in the field and in the laboratory. The experimental plot (82 m2) was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments (and three replications): control (T0), 2.5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T1), 20 tons ha-1 of poultry manure (T2), 0.7 tons ha-1 of NPK 20-10-10 fertilizer (T3) and 5 tons ha-1 of basalt dust (T4). The main results revealed that T0 showed a sandy clayey loam texture, acidic pH (5.1), very high organic carbon (6.4%), low total nitrogen (0.2%) and moderately available phosphorus (16.70 mg kg-1). The exchangeable complex revealed high K (1.02 cmol (+). kg-1), very low Ca (0.45 cmol (+). kg-1) and Mg2+ (0.17 cmol (+). kg-1), low Na+ (0.2 cmol (+). kg-1), very low sum of exchangeable bases (1.84 cmol (+). kg-1), very low cation exchange capacity (CEC) and a moderate base saturation (43.4%). The C/N was very high (23) indicating very poor quality organic matter and a potentially very slow mineralization rate. After treatment, pH, exchangeable bases Ca and Mg increased after harvest whereas Na and K decreased for all the treatments. The growth and yield parameters of all treatments, except number of fruits, were such that T2>T3>T4>T1>T0. The numbers of fruits were as follows: T2>T4>T3>T1>T0. The most economically viable soil treatment was attained by T2 with a profit rate (PR) of 933% and a VCR value of 10.3. Treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 were all profitable since their value-to cost ratio (VCR)>1, but only T2 and T3 show a VCR (value-to-cost ratio) greater than 2 and are thus recommended for popularization. VL - 8 IS - 6 ER -