Investigating Organic Manure and Inorganic Fertilizer for Sustainable Maize (Zea mays) Production in Southwestern Nigeria

Aim: This research investigated the utilization of livestock manure as nutrient source in maize farming.

Place and Duration: The field experiment was carried out at the research field of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lagos State Field Office, Nigeria during the late planting season (July/August) of 2019.

Methodology: An experimental field research was conducted to compare the variation in the vegetative parameters and yields of maize grown with different livestock wastes. The experiment consisted of six treatments, cattle, pig, poultry, sheep manures, NPK and control experiment set-up in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replicates. The following data were recorded during the experiment: plant height, number of leaves, number of days to first tasselling and silking, number of cob, cob length, effective cob length, cob diameter, cob weight, ear weight, 100 grain weight, grain yield and shelling percentage. Data recorded were exposed to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated with Duncan Multiple Range Test.

Results: The plant height and number of leaves recorded at 9 Weeks After Planting were 215.53, 217.57, 219.69, 188.85, 219.19, 182.76 and 13.60, 13.40, 13.8, 12.4, 13.8, 12.2 cm for cattle, pig, poultry, sheep, NPK and control respectively while the yield were 3193.00, 3055.20, 3513.00, 2855.00, 3791.00 and 1523.80 kg/ha for cattle, pig, poultry, sheep, NPK and control respectively.

Conclusion: Considering the yields recorded, it has shown that cattle, pig, poultry and sheep manures are suitable for sustainable maize growth and is a means of livestock waste management.