Effect of Poultry Manure and Urea on Soil Chemical Properties, Nodulation and Yield of Groundnut (Arachish ypogaea) in Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Afikpo Ebonyi State

A Green House study was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Technology to investigate the influence of the integrated application of poultry manure and urea on soil nutrient properties, nodulation, growth and yield of groundnut (Arachis hypogeae) in AkanuIbiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Southeastern Nigeria. The experiment was laid out into Complete Randomized Design with different levels of poultry manure (0, 1 and 2 tons ha-1) and urea (0, 1 and 2 tons-1) replicated three times. Results showed that poultry manure applied alone or combined with urea significantly (P < 0.05) improved almost all the soil nutrient properties. Relative to control, best improvements on soil fertility indices such as soil pH, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, organic carbon, total exchangeable acidity (TEB) and effective cation exchange Capacity (ECEC) were obtained in the pot treated with poultry manure 2 tons ha-1 and urea 1 tonha-1. Similarly, poultry manure integrated with urea significantly (P<0.05) improved number of leaves and number of pods. Application of urea without poultry manure increased number of leaves better than the lone application of poultry manure, while poultry manure and its integration with urea had significant improvement on the number of pods compared with alone application of urea. The maximum improvement on the number of leaves and pod was obtained when poultry manure was applied at 2 tons ha-1 integrated with urea at 1 ton ha-1. It was also observed that the number of nodules increased with poultry manure application but decreased with application of urea. Integration of urea with poultry manure is therefore recommended to improve soil fertility and grain yield of groundnut. Large amount of urea should not be used in groundnut production; rather poultry manure should be incorporated to enhance nodulation and nitrogen availability in soils of Unwana Southeastern Nigeria.