Effects of Fish Pond Effluent and Poultry Manure on Growth Performance of Maize (Zea Mays) in Port Harcourt, South-South Nigeria

Abstract: The effect of fish pond effluent and poultry droppings on maize performance was investigated at the Teaching and Research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, and Rivers State, Nigeria. The experiment which was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design comprised of twelve treatments and three replications. The study had two levels of fish pond effluent (Diluted and undiluted) the treatments were: The treatments were; control (CTR), 0.2t/ha Poultry droppings (PDA), 0.4t/ha Poultry droppings (PDB), 0.6t/ha Poultry droppings (PDC), 0.8t/ha Poultry droppings (PDD), 0.2t/ha Poultry droppings+ diluted effluent (PFA50), 0.4t/ha Poultry droppings + diluted effluent (PFB50), 0.6t/ha Poultry droppings + diluted effluent (PFC50), 0.8t/ha Poultry droppings + diluted effluent (PFD50), 0.2t/ha Poultry droppings + undiluted effluent (PEA100), 0.4t/ha Poultry droppings + undiluted effluent (PEB100), 0.6t/ha Poultry droppings + undiluted effluent (PEC100) and 0.8t/ha Poultry droppings + undiluted effluent (PED100). At 8 weeks, Plant height ranged from 108.40cm at the control to 162.90 cm at PDD treated plot. Number of leaves ranged from 16.05 at the control to 24.82 at PED100 treated plot. Leaf area ranged from 134.40 cm2 at the control to 381.20 at the PED 100 treated plot. Results revealed that, fish pond effluent when integrated with poultry droppings significantly influenced all the growth parameters accessed. Based on the results obtained, it is recommended that, Fish Pond Effluent plus poultry manure be applied to increase plant growth, nutrient status and soil fertility level.