STATUS OF SOME PLANT NUTRIENTS OF BASEMENT COMPLEX SOILS IN DERIVED SAVANNA IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA

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1 STATUS OF SOME PLANT NUTRIENTS OF BASEMENT COMPLEX SOILS IN DERIVED SAVANNA IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA ABSTRACT Orhue*, E. R., Ekuase, H. O., Atere, O. O. and Eze, U. E. Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. The status of some plant nutrients were determined in 192 soil samples collected from 4 locations at 0-30 cm, cm, cm and cm soil depths in the Edo State. The locations which included Agenebode, Anegbette, Agbede and Warake are situated in the derived savanna of Edo State, Nigeria. Results revealed that the surface soils were sandy loam while the subsurface soils were sandy clay loam. Furthermore the soils were slightly acidic and the organic carbon, organic matter, N, P, K, Mg, Fe and Mn components decreased significantly with soil depth in all the locations. The Ca content significantly decreased with soil depth in Agenebode while the Na component of the soils at Agenebode and Agbede increased and decreased significantly in soils of Anegbette and Warake respectively. Similarly, the Zn and Cu status were significantly higher in cm depth at Agbede and in cm depth at Warake soils. When compared to established critical levels, the organic matter, N, Ca and Fe were sufficient in all the soils while P, Na, and Cu were low. The Mg and K were low in Agenebode, Agbede and Warake while Zn was low in Agenebode, Anegbette and Warake soils. Also the Mn content was low at Agenebode and Warake soils. The relationship between some soil properties and the micronutrients showed that the organic carbon, sand and N significantly positively correlated with Mn while P positively significantly correlated with iron and manganese. Silt which negatively significantly correlated with copper had positively significantly correlation with zinc. INTRODUCTION The derived savanna is occupying larger areas of Northern Edo State and the geology of this area is mainly basement complex rocks (Fagbami, 1985). The basement complex is one of those parent materials that determine to a large extent the basic physical and chemical properties of soils. Chude et al. (1993) reported that parent material is one of the major factors controlling and determining the type, total amount and availability of micronutrient elements, in the savanna soils. In the Savanna region of Northern Nigeria accommodating basement complex parent material, Jacob and Olowokere (2013) recorded strongly acid soils, low organic carbon, phosphorus,nitrogen, abundant copper, iron, manganese and zinc content of the soils. Shobayo et al (2013) reported low soil ph, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, percent base saturation from basement complex soil of Northern guinea savanna of Nigeria whereas Oyinlola and Chude (2010) reported adequate copper, iron, manganese, and deficient boron in soils of Northern guinea and Sudan savannas of Nigeria. Majority of the crops such as rice, groundnut, maize, yam and tomatoes consumed in Edo State are cultivated in the derived savanna. These crops require adequate nutrients for maximum growth and yield. For sustainability of the cultivation of these crops, there is the need to examine the nutrient status of these soils. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the status of some plant nutrients of the soils derived from this basement complex in Edo State of Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The study area include four locations in the derived savanna area of Edo State. These 4 locations comprised of Agenebode, Anegbette, Agbede and Warake. The latitude and longitude of these locations are shown in Table 1. The area has a tropical climate characterised by two distinct seasons including the wet and dry seasons. The wet season occurs between April and October with a break in August. The dry season lasts from November to April with a cold (harmattan) spell experienced between December and January. The temperature averages about 25 C (77 F) in the rainy season and about 28 C (82 F) in the dry season. Table 1: The locations and their coordinates Location Latitude Longitude Agenebode 'N 'E Anegbette 'N 'E Agbede 6 º 14.5'N 'E Warake 8 o 47 23'N 7 º 25.9'E Soil sampling and laboratory analysis At each location, an area measuring 300 m 300 m was marked out and the area divided into 3 equal parts. Each part forms a replicate and in each replicate soil samples were collected from 0-30 cm, cm, cm and NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 1,

2 cm depth using auger. A total of 16 soil samples per replicate were collected giving a total of 48 soil samples per location. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design. A total of 192 soil samples were used in the entire area. The soils were air dried, sparingly ground with mortar and pestle to pass through 2 mm sieve prior to laboratory analysis. The particles size distribution was determined by hydrometer method of Gee and Or (2002) while the soil ph was measured by glass electrode ph meter in a 1:1 soil-water suspension(udo et al, 2009). The organic carbon was determined by the Walkley and Black Oxidation method as modified by Nelson and Sommers (1982). The organic matter was obtained by multiplying the organic carbon content with The total nitrogen was determined by micro-kjeidhal method as described by Bremmer and Mulvaney (1982). The calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium were extracted with neutral 1N ammonium acetate (ph 7.0) solution and determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The available phosphorus was determined by colorimetric method after extracting with Bray-1 solution (Murphy and Riley 1962). The 0.1M HCI extraction method of Osiname et al (1973) was used in the extraction of copper, Iron, Zinc and Managanese and thereafter their concentrations determined with Atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Data analysis The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Genstat computer package. The Duncan multiple range test was used in separating the means at 5% level of probability. The relationship between the micronutrients and some soil properties were determined by correlation using SPSS statistical package. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Particle size distribution The particle size distribution of the soils are presented in Table 2. The sand and silt components of the soils significantly decreased with soil depth while the clay content on the other hand increased significantly ( P < 0.05) with soil depth. The textural class was sandy loam at the surface soils and sandy clay loam at the subsurface soils. This result is similar to earlier report of Shobayo et al (2013). Table 2: Particle size distribution of the soils Location Depth(cm) Sand Silt Clay Textural Class g kg -1 Anegbete a a 75.50d Sandy loam b b c Sandy clay loam c 97.00c b Sandy clay loam c 82.00d a Sandy clay loam Aganebode a a 43.00d Sandy loam b b 68.00c Sandy clay loam c b b Sandy clay loam d d a Sandy clay loam Agbede ,00a 62.00a d Sandy loam b 62.00a c Sandy clay loam c 62.00a b Sandy clay loam c 57.00b a Sandy clay loam Warake a a 63.00d Sandy loam b 92.00b c Sandy clay loam b 92.00b b Sandy clay loam c 87.00b a Sandy clay loam Chemical properties of the soils Some chemical properties of the soils are shown in Table 3. In all the locations, the soils were slightly acidic and increased with soil depth at Agenebode and Warake whereas in Agbede and Anegbette, there was no definite pattern with soil depth. The acidic nature of the soils further confirmed earlier reports of Jacob and Olowokere (2013) and that of Shobayo et al. (2013). The organic carbon which significantly (P< 0.05) decreased with soil depth in all the locations indicated higher accumulation of the organic carbon component in the surface soil layer. Similarly, the organic matter also decreased with soil depth. The organic matter component of the top 0-30cm depth in all the locations fell within the critical level of g kg -1 (Enwezor et al., 1989). This indicated that the soils were not low in organic matter component. The nitrogen content of the soil significantly decreased with soil depth in all the locations. The N content in the 0-30cm soil depth in all the locations fell within the critical level of g kg -1 (Sobulo and Osiname, 1981). Based on this critical level, the top soil was sufficient in nitrogen content. The total nitrogen was however highest in Warake soils probably due to the higher levels of organic matter of the soil. Smilarly the phosphorus component in all the soils decreased significantly with soil depth. Although the 0-30 cm soil depth of all the locatons had higher phosphorus content, the soils were deficient in NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 1,

3 phosphorus when compared with mg kg -1 critical level reported by Adeoye and Agboola (1985). The low soil P content may be attributed to the low soil ph which enable P compexed with aluminum. The low P component recorded was similar to earlier reports of Oyinlola and Chude(2010) and Shobayo et al. (2013). The soil exchangeable bases status are shown in Table 3. The potassium content of the soils in all the locations decreased with soil depth with the surface soils significantly higher than other depths. The top ( 0-30 cm) soil depth of Agenebode, Agbede and Warake were sufficient in potassium while the soils of Anegbette was deficient compared with Akinrinde and Obigbesan (2000) critical level of cmol kg -1. In Agenebode and Anegbette, the magnesium decreased with soil depth whereas the magnesium component of Agbede and Warake soils had no definite pattern of increase with soil depth. The magnesium content of surface soils of Agenebode, Agbede and Warake were not deficient compared to Adeoye and Agboola (1985) critical level of cmo kg - 1. The calcium component of the soils was not deficient in all the locations compared with 2.50 cmol kg -1 critical level reported by Akinrinde and Obigbesan (2000). In Agenebode, the calcium content decreased significantly with soil depth whereas in Anegbette, Agbede and Warake, there were no definite pattern of increase with soil depth. In Anegbette and Warake, the top (0-30 cm) soils were significantly higher than other depths whereas in Agbede, the 30-60cm depth were significantly higher than other depths. Except in Anegbette and Warake where sodium component increased and decreased respectively with soil depth, the sodium component of Agbede soil was not consistent with soil depth. The sodium content in all the locations was low. Table 3: Some chemical properties of the soils Location Depth(cm) ph Organic carbon Organic matter g kg -1 Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Magnesium Calcium Sodium mg kg -1 cmo lkg -1 Agenebode c 13.80a a 2.96a 0.19a 0.26a 4.55a 0.17c b 6.70b b 2.53b 0.14b 0.24a 3.18b 0.24b a 5.90c b 1.92c 0.14b 0.23a 3.11c 0.29a a 1.50d c 0.97d 0.13b 0.15b 3.02d 0.09d Anegbette a 15.70a a 7.25a 0.15a 0.17a 3.77a 0.31b a 5.90b b 5.08b 0.14b 0.17a 3.29b 0.35ab a 4.70c c 4.32c 0.14b 0.08b 3.61b 0.37a a 3.60d d 3.54d 0.14b 0.08b 3.53c 0.37a Agbede c 15.40a a 6.41a 0.25a 0.25b 2.76c 0.36a c 5.40b b 4.41b 0.21b 0.16c 4.92a 0.37a b 3.60c bc 3.57c 0.21b 0.38a 3.05b 037a a 3.00d c 3.12d 0.18c 0.16c 5.01a 0.36a Warake a 16.70a a 7.33a 0.16a 0.30a 4.68a 0.35a a 14.10b b 4.85b 0.14b 0.07c 3.04c 0.31b a 12.90c b 3.58c 0.12bc 0.17b 4.47b 0.28c a 12.30d c 3.09d 0.11c 0.18c 4.46b 0.28c The micronutrient status of the soils are presented in Table 4. The Cu content significantly decreased with soil depth in soils of Agenebode and Anegbette whereas in Agbede and Warake significantly higher Cu were observed at cm and cm depth in Agbede and Warake respectively. The critical levels of extractable Cu in soils is mgkg -1 (Deb and Sakal, 2002). Based on these critical levels, the Cu content of the topsoils in these areas were below the critical level. The implication is that the soils are deficient in Cu. The result is similar to the earlier report of Sillanpaci (1982) who repored deficiency of Cu in topsoils in his global study of soil micronutrients. The available Zn content in soils of Agenebode and Anegbette decreased significantly with soil depth while those of Agbede and Warake were not consistent with soil depth. However, the cm and cm soil depth were significantly higher than other soil depth in Zn at Agbede and Warake respectively. The Zn content in Aganebode, Anagbette and Warake soils fell below the critical level of 3.0 mgkg -1 reported by Pam (1990). It was only the soils cm depth at Agbede that the zinc content fell within the critical level of mgkg -1 (Sims and Johnson 1991, Deb and Sekal, 2002). The low Zn content may be attributed to the Zn tendency to be absorbed on the clay-sized particles as earlier reported by Alloway (2008). Similarly, the values of Manganese content significantly decreased with soil depth. The top (0-30 cm) soils of Anegbette and Agbede were above the critical level of mgkg -1 (Sims and Johnson 1991) while those of Agenebode and Warake were below this critical level reported by Sims and Johnson (1991). The implication of this result is that soils of Anegbette and Agbede are sufficient in Manganese. The available iron content of the soils significantly decreased with soil depth and following the Deb and Sakal (2002) critical level of mgkg -1, the soils were confirmed rich in iron. The higher iron content in the top (0-30 cm depth) soils could be attributed to the presence of high organic matter and the acid conditions of the soils as earlier reported by Oyinlola and Chude (2010). NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 1,

4 Table 4: Micronutrient content of different depths of soils in different locations Location Depth(cm) Zinc Copper Manganese Iron mg kg -1 Anegbete a 0.34a 8.43a a b 0.04b 0.05b b c 0.03bc 0.03c 40.30c c 0.02c 0.04bc 37.20d Aganebode a 0.36a 0.49a a b 0.08b 0.27b 74.02b c 0.07b 0.07c 35.02c d 0.04b 0.06c 21.24d Agbede b 0.24b 4.33a a a 1.68a 0.60b b c 0.10c 0.16b c d 0.10c 0.05b d Warake b 0.36b 0.80a 93.23a d 0.18c 0.70b 73.13b c 0.24c 0.57c 56.79c a 0.59a 0.02d 46.06c The relationship between some soil properties and micronutrients are shown intable 5. The organic carbon, N and sand positively significantly correlated with Mn. The phosphorus significantly correlated with iron and manganese. The silt negatively significantly correlated with Cu (r = ) and positively significantly correlated with Zn (r = 0.364). The significant relationship between some of the soil properties and the micronutrients revealed their importance in the availability of these micronutrients. Similar results have earlier been reported by Sadiqq et al. (2008). Table 5: Correlation coefficient (r) between some soil properties and the micronutrients Soil Properties Iron(Fe) Copper(Cu) Zinc(Zn) Manganese(Mn) ph Organic carbon * Nitrogen * Phosphorus 0.720* * Sand * Silt * 0.364* Clay Significant at P < CONCLUSION The results showed that the textual class was sandy loam to sandy clay loam at the surface and subsurface soils respectively. The soils in all the locations were slightly acidic, sufficient in organic matter, N, Ca and Fe while P, Na, and Cu were low. The Mg and K were low in Agenebode, Agbede and Warake while Zn was low in Agenebode, Anegbette and Warake soils. Also the Mn content was low at Agenebode and Warake soils.the significant relationship between the soil properties and micro nutrients indicated the significance of these soil properties in the availability of the micro nutrients. Based on the deficiency of some nutrients, there is the need of encourage the farmers to cultivate the habits of applying both the organic and inorganic fertilizers for continuous sustainability of crop production. REFERENCES Adeoye, G. O. and Agboola, A. A Critical levels of soil ph, available P, K, Zn and Mn and maize ear leaf content of P, Cu and Mn in sedimentary soil of Southwest Nigeria. Fertilizer Research 6: Akinrinde, E. A. and Obigbesan, G. O Evaluation of fertility status of selected soil for crop production in five ecological zones of Western Nigeria. Proceeding of the 26th Annual Conference of Soil Science Society of Nigeria. University of Ibadan. October 30- November Alloway, B. T Zinc in soils and crop nutrition. International Fertilizer industry Association and International Zinc Association, Brussels, Belgium and Paris. pp135 Bremmer, J. M. and Mulvaney, C. S Total Nitrogen. In Page, A. L. (eds) Methods of soil Analysis Agronomy Monograph of American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin Vol 2: NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 1,

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