Effects of organic amendments and wood ash on sulphur fractions and maize (Zea mays L.) yield in soils of different parent materials

Sulphur (S) fractions are important parameters in managing soil S status for optimum crop performance; however, their importance on agricultural crops had not been fully elucidated. An incubation and screenhouse experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of cattle manure (CM), cattle manure and woodash (CM+WA), poultry manure (PM), poultry manure and woodash (PM+WA) and woodash (WA) on sulphur fractions and maize dry matter weight (DMW). Soils were collected based on their parent materials from different agro-ecological zones. Organic amendments and woodash were applied at 90 kg P ha-1 and 5 t ha-1, respectively. Sample were analyzed for available, adsorbed, organic and total S at an interval of 4 weeks. Maize DMW was estimated at 8 week after planting (WAP). Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance using DMRT at 5% level of probability. Results revealed total and organic S decreased with increasing period of study resulting in increase in available and adsorbed S contents. Organic S constituted 89.1 to 93.2% of total S.  The application of PM or CM resulted to higher available and lower adsorbed S content in the incubation study while PM+WA or CM+WA recorded higher available and lower adsorbed S content in Screenhouse study. The combined application of organic amendments with woodash had higher mineralisation rate of organic S; leading to 30, 100 and 153% higher available S content compared with sole application of animal manure, woodash and control, respectively, and also higher maize DMW in screenhouse study. The study concluded that the incorporation of animal manure with woodash enhanced the consistent supply of soil available S status above the critical limit, irrespective of parent materials.
 

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