Mucuna pruriens, Cattle and Chicken Manures Soil Amendment on Some Soil Chemical Properties and the Growth and Yield of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

The study assessed the effect of green manure and animal manure soil amendment on soil nutrients and the growth and yield of cabbage during the 2011 minor and 2012 major seasons. A Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications was used with the following treatments 27 t ha-1 Mucuna pruriens green manure (M), 20 t ha-1 cattle manure (CD), 20 t ha-1 chicken manure (CM), 14 t ha-1 M + 10 t ha-1 CM, 14 t ha-1 M + 10 t ha-1 CD, 10 t ha-1 CM + 10 t ha-1 CD and a control plot which had no amendment. All the amended plots showed higher increases in soil organic matter percentage, total nitrogen percentage, Exchangeable calcium, magnesium and potassium and Available phosphorus than the control treatment. pH change was not significant. The sole M treatment had the highest organic matter percentage, with the sole CM having almost higher values for other parameters. Cabbage plants from the amended treatments recorded significantly (p 0.05) higher number of cabbage leaves and plant height, larger canopy spread, higher fresh head weight (30.03t h-1 in 2011, 40.53t h-1in 2012) and dry head weight (2.31t h-1 in 2011, 3.94t h-1in 2012) of cabbage than plants from the unamended treatment. The sole chicken manure and its combined treatments recorded higher values of the growth and yield parameters. The CM in both years generally had higher harvest index (HI) values (2011 = 47.72 %, 2012 = 69.52 %). Fresh head weight of cabbage highly related with some soil nutrients. Planting season affected crop yield, the 2012 cabbage plants had values higher than their corresponding 2011 plants.