ACACIA TUMIDA PRUNINGS AS SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS FOR SOIL FERTILITY IMPROVEMENT IN NIGER: BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND DECOMPOSITION PATTERN BY ILIASSO ABOUBACAR DAN KASSOUA TAWAYE (ENGINEER IN AGRONOMY) SEPTEMBER, 2015 ACACIA TUMIDA PRUNINGS AS SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS FOR SOIL FERTILITY IMPROVEMENT IN NIGER A Thesis presented to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOIL SCIENCE BY ILIASSO ABOUBACAR DAN KASSOUA TAWAYE (ENGINEER IN AGRONOMY) SEPTEMBER, 2015 DECLARATION I, hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the MPhil degree and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the University, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text Aboubacar Dan Kassoua Tawaye Iliasso …… ……… (Student) 20357397 Signature Date Certified by: Dr Nana Ewusi Mensah (Principal Supervisor) … Signature Prof Robert C Abaidoo ……… (Co-supervisor) Signature Dr Doubgedji Fatondji ……… (Co-supervisor) Signature …………………… Date …………… Date …………… Date Certified by: Dr Enoch A Osekre ……… (Head of Department) Signature i .…………… Date DEDICATION To my late father, my mother and all those who in diverse ways have added value to my life ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to express my thanks to my supervisors Prof Robert Clement Abaidoo and Dr Nana Ewusi Mensah, who both followed this work with great attention through their regular availability, advice, support, their guidance, encouragement, valuable inputs and suggestions towards the successful completion of this work I am grateful to Dr Fatondji Dougbedji, for his availability, assistance, guidance, support and advice during my programme I received not only scientific insights from him, but a lot of encouragement as well Consequently, I have discovered the world of research and acquired a strict methodological exposure I am deeply grateful to him I would like to thank Ali Ibrahim for his technical assistance and all the staff and workers at the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, KNUST for their encouragement and the quality of training they provided I also express my sincere thanks to ICRISAT-Niamey Sadoré staff, particularly Salifou Goube Mairoua; analytical laboratory technician, for his assistance during the period of the internship My deep gratitude goes to my family and also Goubé Mairoua’s family whose expectation served as a strong stimulus for me to get through the difficulties during my programme Special acknowledgement goes to the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) through the Soil Health Program for sponsoring this research at KNUST Finally, I express my gratitude to all AGRA-PhD Soil Science and AGRA-MPhil students for the wonderful time we shared over the two years I spent on the programme It was a pleasure working with you all iii TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE DECLARATION I DEDICATION II ACKNOWLEDGMENT III TABLE OF CONTENT IV LIST OF FIGURES VIII LIST OF TABLES IX LIST OF APPENDICES X ABSTRACT XI CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF DECOMPOSITION 2.2 ORGANIC MATERIAL QUALITY AND DECOMPOSITION 2.3 FACTORS AFFECTING THE DECOMPOSITION OF ORGANIC MATERIAL 2.3.1 Physical and chemical properties of organic amendments 2.3.2 Physical and chemical environment 2.3.2.1 Soil properties 2.3.2.1.1 Soil clay content iv 2.3.2.1.2 Soil aeration 2.3.2.1.3 Soil pH 2.3.3 Climate 10 2.3.3.1 Temperature 10 2.3.3.2 Soil moisture content 11 2.3.4 Soil organisms 11 2.4 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW 12 CHAPTER THREE 13 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 13 3.1 Description of the study area 13 3.1.1 Climate of the study area 13 3.1.2 Soil of the study area 14 3.1.3 Vegetation of the study area 14 3.2 Experimental design 14 3.2.1 Characterization of organic materials 16 3.3 Litterbag sampling 16 3.3.1 Determination of physical and chemical characteristics of soils of the experimental fields 17 3.3.1.1 Soil pH 17 3.3.1.2 Soil total nitrogen 17 3.3.1.3 Soil available phosphorus 18 3.3.1.4 Soil organic carbon 19 v 3.3.1.5 Particle size analysis 20 3.3.1.6 Determination of total phosphorus 22 3.3.1.7 Determination of total potassium 23 3.3.1.8 Determination of total nitrogen 23 3.3.1.9 Determination of polyphenol content 24 3.3.1.10 Determination of lignin content 25 3.3.1.11 Contribution of termites to decomposition 26 3.3.2 26 Data collection and statistical analysis CHAPTER FOUR 28 4.0 RESULTS 28 4.1 Rainfall distribution and temperature 28 4.2 Some physical and chemical properties of the experimental soils 28 4.3 Initial chemical properties of the organic materials 29 4.4 Decomposition coefficient (k) and decomposition rate patterns of organic materials 30 4.5 Dynamics of termite population during organic matter decomposition 34 4.6 Factors influencing the decomposition of organic materials 37 4.7 Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium release patterns of the organic amendments 4.7.1 4.7.2 38 Effect of type of organic amendment on N, P and K decomposition coefficients 38 Nitrogen release patterns of organic materials 39 vi 4.7.3 Phosphorus release patterns of organic materials 39 4.7.4 Potassium release patterns of organic materials 41 4.8 Effect of insecticide application on nutrient release coefficient (k) 41 4.8.1 Effect of insecticide application on N, P and K release patterns 42 4.8.1.1 Nitrogen release pattern 42 4.8.1.2 Phosphorus release pattern 43 4.8.1.3 Potassium release pattern 43 CHAPTER FIVE 45 5.0 DISCUSSION 45 5.1 Biochemical properties of organic materials on decomposition 45 5.2 Effect of soil type on decomposition 46 5.3 Contribution of termites to the decomposition of organic amendments 47 5.4 Nutrient release patterns of the organic amendments 49 5.5 Effect of insecticide application on N, P and K release 50 CHAPTER SIX 51 6.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 51 6.1 Conclusions 51 6.2 Recommendations 52 REFERENCES 53 APPENDICES 66 vii LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure Location of ICRISAT - Research station in Sadoré-Niger Figure Rainfall distribution and temperature regime of the 13 experimental site 28 Figure Decomposition patterns of organic amendments 32 Figure Effect of soil type on decomposition of organic amendments 33 Figure Effect of insecticide application on decomposition rate 34 Figure Dynamics of termite population during decomposition 37 Figure Nitrogen release pattern of organic amendments 40 Figure Phosphorus release pattern of organic amendments 40 Figure Potassium release pattern of organic amendments 41 Figure 10 Nitrogen release pattern of insecticide treated organic amendments Figure 11 42 Phosphorus release pattern of insecticide treated organic amendments Figure 12 43 Potassium release 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Ecology, 1636-1642 64 World Reference Base, I W G (2006) World reference base for soil resources World Soil Resources Report 103 65 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Litterbag containing Acacia tumida prunings Appendix 2: Litterbag containing millet straw 66 Appendix 3: Litterbag containing cattle manure 67 [...]... determine the biochemical qualities of Acacia tumida prunings; 2 evaluate the decomposition and nutrient release patterns of Acacia tumida prunings relative to other organic materials (animal manure and millet straw) commonly used for soil fertility improvement in Niger; 3 assess the contribution of termites to the decomposition of Acacia tumida prunings; 4 evaluate the effect of soil type on the decomposition. .. whether the biochemical qualities of Acacia tumida pruning or the presence of macro-organisms (termites) have significant influence on its decomposition rate The overall objective of this study therefore was to explore the diverse sources of organic materials for soil fertility improvement and contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of Acacia tumida prunings decomposition in Niger The... fertility improvement in Niger The current study was therefore designed to (i) evaluate the quality of Acacia tumida prunings, (ii) determine the decomposition and nutrient release patterns of Acacia tumida prunings (iii) assess the factors that influence the decomposition and nutrient release patterns of organic materials under Sahelian conditions Litterbag experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete... release constant (k/day = 0.025) was recorded for millet straw whereas the highest P release constant (k/day = 0.035) was documented for manure The highest potassium release constant (k/day = 0.114) was recorded for Acacia tumida xi pruning This study has contributed to knowledge regarding the decomposition of Acacia tumida prunings which has an important implication for diversifying the source of nutrients. .. 2.3.2.1.1 Soil clay content The soil clay content is one of the major soil texture components that influences sources of soil aeration and therefore significantly determine the decomposition rates of the organic amendments by increasing the availability of oxygen for the aerobic micro-organisms (Sylvia et al., 2005) According to Epstein et al (2002), the decomposition rate of soil organic matter increased as. .. are rich in protein and other nutrients (Rinaudo et al., 2002) This species produces good seed yield and provides other products and services such as soil fertility improvement through nitrogen fixation and leaves for mulching Acacia tumida tree is pruned once a year (with a total foliar biomass of 8 Mg ha-1) and the prunings also add organic matter and nutrients to the soil (Rinaudo and Cunningham,... treatments consisted of a factorial combination of (a) three types of organic amendments (Acacia tumida pruning, millet straw and cattle manure), and (b) two levels of insecticide application (with and without insecticide) The litterbag experiment was conducted on sandy and crusted sandy soil types The percentage composition of N, P and K in Acacia tumida prunings were 2.30, 0.14 and 1.50, respectively... sources of organic amendments for increasing nutrient availability for crop growth is a major challenge in Niger Reports on the role of organic material in soil fertility improvement in the Sahelian zone of Niger have been focused merely on limited range of organic amendments such as animal manure and crop residues There is however little information on the use of agro-forestry leaves for soil fertility improvement. .. of nutrients for soil fertility improvement in Niger Moreover, the results of this study indicate that the presence of termites and the intrinsic quality of the organic material play crucial roles in the decomposition of organic materials in the Semi-arid environment of Niger xii CHAPTER ONE 1 0 INTRODUCTION Agricultural production in Niger is predominantly rain-fed cereal-based cropping systems characterized... rate and pattern of decomposition and mineralization of an organic material incorporated into soil depends on the interaction between its quality and the prevailing chemical and physical environment of the soil, and also the 2 community of the decomposers (Beare et al., 1992; Bending et al., 2004) Earlier studies established that, decomposition is also influenced by climate, and the activity of meso and ... understanding of the determinants of Acacia tumida prunings decomposition in Niger The specific objectives were to: determine the biochemical qualities of Acacia tumida prunings; evaluate the decomposition. .. quality of Acacia tumida prunings, (ii) determine the decomposition and nutrient release patterns of Acacia tumida prunings (iii) assess the factors that influence the decomposition and nutrient.. .ACACIA TUMIDA PRUNINGS AS SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS FOR SOIL FERTILITY IMPROVEMENT IN NIGER A Thesis presented to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture