Cumulative effect of combined cocoa pod ash, poultry manure, NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer on major cations release for crop production in southwestern Nigeria

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Good fertilizer do not only supply plant nutrient to the soil but also supply the nutrients in proper amount and in proper balance. The presence of soil organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), high percent base saturation (%BS) as well as suitable pH is the major determining fertility factors for crop production. The higher the OM, CEC and %BS, it is expected that the higher the productivity status of the soil would be. In some cases, CEC in the soil may be high yet the soil may be unproductive. A soil that contains high exchange acidity (Al2+ + H+ ) may have high CEC but may be unproductive due to the negative interaction between the Al2+ + H+ with other nutrients. For example, high EA in soil tends to reduce P availability. Among the constituents of CEC, Ca and Mg make up the bulk of the cation attracted to the soil colloids. It is known that Ca2+ flocculates soil while Mg2+ coagulates it. A balance between the two soil nutrients is needed to maintain ideal nutrients for plants uptake likewise improvement in soil physical properties such as soil structure. The productive capacity of a soil also depends on the interaction between its biological and physical properties. It is asserted that soil with high levels of Ca or K will typically produce less Mg to crops (Samuel et al., 2003). Integrated application of agro wastes and mineral fertilizers have been found to increase productive capacity of the soil (Bhattacharyya et al., 2008; Ghosh et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2009; Adeleye and Ayeni, 2010; Ayeni, 2011; Carvalho et al., 2011). Excess Mg is known to be in competition with other major cations such as Ca2+, K+ , Na+ , NH4 + , Fe2+ and Al3+ . Many researches have been conducted on the combined effect of cocoa pod ash, poultry manure and NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer on soil chemical properties and crop yield (Ayeni, 2010; Ayeni, 2011) but there is scanty information on their effects on nutrient interactions. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the rate of nutrients release from cocoa pod ash rates, poultry manure rate, NPK fertilizer rates and their combined effect on nutrient release and interactions.