Effect of Biosoil Conditioner and NPK 15:15:15 Fertilizers on the Growth and Yield of Maize (Zea mays L.) in North- Central of Nigeria

Soil degradation and nutrient depletion have become serious threat to agricultural productivity in Nigeria. Substantial improvement in the systems is required to support the ever-increasing rural and urban population. During the 2013 and 2014 cropping season, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of combined application of NPK fertilizer and Biosoil conditioner on yield and growth of maize at Kilankwa (longitude 6.79316E, latitude 8.70545N) in Abuja, Nigeria. This experiment was done as a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were T1 (300 kgNPK/ha); T2 (300 kgNPK/ha + 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres of water); T3 (1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres of water) and T4 (control). Soil samples were collected for the determination of chemical and physical properties before planting. Data on growth parameters (plant height and number of leaves) and yield (fresh cob weight) were also collected and subjected to 2 ways Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) and means separated with Least Significant Difference (LSD) at P=0.05.

The study revealed that during dry season of 2013 cropping system, application rate of 300 kg NPK/ha + 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres of water had the highest fresh cob weight (6.0 t/ha), followed by 300 Kg NPK/ha only (5.1 t/ha), 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner only (3.2 t/ha) and control (2.3 t/ha) respectively. The field evaluation also showed that combined application rate of 300 kgNPK/ha + 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres of water /ha produced the highest number of leaves (13) and plant height (251 cm) compared to the least value of 10 and 123 cm respectively as obtained in the control.

Similarly in the 2014 wet season, the same trend as in the 2013 was obtained with the application rate of 300 kg NPK/ha+1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres of water had the highest fresh cob weight (10.9 t/ha), followed by 300 Kg NPK/ha only (9.0 t/ha), 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner only (7.4 t/ha) and control (3.0 t/ha) respectively.

It can be concluded that the combined application of 300 kgNPK/ha and 1 tablet of Biosoil conditioner in 50 litres gave the highest values for growth and yield than the sole application of either NPK or Biosoil conditioner.