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Potentials of Cassava Peels as a Soil Amendment: I. Corn Growth¹

ABSTRACT

In a greenhouse study on corn (Zea mays L.) to assess the potentials of cassava peels (CP) as a soil amendment, the peels were mixed with cattle dung (D) in different proportions and applied at rates up to 200 metric tons/ha to 4 kg of potted soil. Nitrogen, P, K, and Mg fertilizers (F) were added as a variable. The higher the rate of the CP + D mixture and the more the proportion of D in the mixture, the greater the yield for the first crop except that CP + D + F treatments did not increase yield when applied at > 150 metric tons/ha. Mixtures without F containing 50% CP or above, and CP with F at and above 100 metric tons/ha, gave higher yields with the second cropping. This suggests that preplant incubation beyond the 3 weeks used was desirable to obtain greater N mineralization during the first cropping.

Over the two cropping periods, increasing rates of CP increased yields from 29% to 244% of the control, thus showing the value of CP as a soil amendment. Moreover, CP + F was generally as effective as CP + D and D + F combinations. This obviates the necessity for D which is relatively scarce in West Africa. The CP + D mixtures enhanced fertilizer efficiency with the first cropping.

Key Words: microbial activity • fertilizer efficiency • preplanting incubation • N mineralization • N immobilization • Manihot sp.

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Soil Sci., Univ. of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

² Senior Lecturer in Soil Science.

Received for publication June 25, 1979.