
	International Journal of Soil Science
	Year: 2007 \| Volume: 2 \| Issue: 4 \| Page No.: 258-267 DOI: 10.3923/ijss.2007.258.267

Enhancing the Water Stability of Aggregates of Selected Tropical Soils with Rabbit Waste for Sustainable Crop Production

C.C. Opara, E.U. Onweremadu and I.I. Ibeawuchi

Abstract: The study was conducted to investigate effects of different application rates of Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Waste (RW) on the water stability of peds (natural aggregates) of three soil types-entisol, inceptisol and ultisol collected from Nsukka, Adani and Ihiagwa (Owerri) respectively in Southeastern Nigeria. Aggregate stability was measured at the macro-level by Mean Weight Diameter (MWD) index and micro-level by Aggregated Silt plus Clay (ASC%) index. From each location, samples were randomly collected from four points or spots and bulked for determining aggregate stability indices and other soil properties. Results obtained revealed that with MWD (mm) index and using LSD (0.05) value of 0.04 for comparing mean values among the soils (A), ultisol was statistically greater in stability than the other soil types. The stability order was ultisol (0.49 mm) >inceptisol (0.42 mm) >entisol (0.213 mm). Similarly, with LSD_(0.05) value of 0.02 for the RW rates MWD obtained at 100 g/2 kg soil was significantly higher than MWD of other rates. The magnitude of improvement in structural stability following increased application rates of RW was however dependent on the soil types or vice versa as indicated by the statistically significant (p≤0.05) soils (A) X RW rate (B) interaction. Using ASC (%) index and LSD_(0.05) value of 1.08 to compare mean values of ASC among the soils (A), the stability of inceptisol was statistically greater than other soil types and was in the order: inceptisol (30.39)> entisol (14.23) > ultisol (5.67). Also, with LSD_(0.05) values of 0.38 for comparing the mean values of RW rate, the ASC(%) obtained at 100 g 2 kg^-1 soil was statistically higher than as obtained at other lower rates. The magnitude of improvement in aggregate stability was however a function of the soil types or vice versa as revealed by the statistically significant (p≤0.05) soil (A) X RW rate (B) interaction.

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How to cite this article:

C.C. Opara, E.U. Onweremadu and I.I. Ibeawuchi , 2007. Enhancing the Water Stability of Aggregates of Selected Tropical Soils with Rabbit Waste for Sustainable Crop Production. International Journal of Soil Science, 2: 258-267.

DOI: 10.3923/ijss.2007.258.267

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijss.2007.258.267

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