ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at investigating the effect of charcoal, sooth and spent oil on the growth of cow-pea (Vignia unguiculataL.), maize (Zea mays), okro (Abelmoschus esculentus). The research was carried out in the screen house of the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. The study was carried out using 4 treatments and two replicates for each plant. The charcoal, soot and spent oil was mixed with the soil and a control soil for the four plants each, two seeds were planted in each of the buckets. The result for all plants on the charcoal treatment showed significant decrease (p<0.05) in both plant height and number of leaves. The result for all plants in the sooth treatment showed that the plants had a reduction in plant height but showed significant increase (p<0.05) in number of leaves over the plants treated with spent oil. The result for some plants in the charcoal treatment showed significant increase (p<0.05) in plant height over the plants in control, while some in the control increased over some plants in the charcoal treatment. This study has shown that charcoal increases plant growth due to the carbon contents it contains, while the spent oil and sooth decreased the growth of the plants. It is important to educate the farmers on the best farming practice and regular monitoring of contamination of the soil by spent oil and sooth alongside charcoal.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Content vi
List of Figures viii
Abstract x
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the
Study 1
1.2 Justification 5
1.3 Objectives of
the study 6
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature
review 7
2.1 Effect of
Carbon Sources to the germination of Plant 7
2.2
Origin of Carbon 8
2.3
Carbon sources and climate change 9
2.4 Effects of Soot, charcoal and ash on
soils 10
2.5
Effects of Soot, charcoal and ash (Biochar) on soils physical, chemical and
microbial properties
12
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Materials and
method 15
3.1 Study area 15
3.2 Source of
materials 15
3.3
Treatment 15
3.4
Measurement of parameters 16
CHAPTER FOUR
Results 17
CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion 23
Conclusion 25
Recommendation 25
REFRENCES
List of Figures
Fig. 4.1: Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on
the height of Vignia unguiculata in 8
weeks after planting 17
Fig. 4.2: Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on
the number of leaves of Vignia
unguiculata in 8 weeks after planting 18
Fig. 4.3:
Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on the Height of Zea mays in 8 weeks after planting 19
Fig 4.4: Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on
the number of leaves
of Zea mays in 8 weeks after
planting 20
Fig 4.5: Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on
the height of Abelmoschus esculentus
in 8 weeks after planting 21
Fig 4.6: Effect of charcoal, soot and spent oil on the number of leaves of Abelmoschus
esculentus in 8 weeks after planting 22
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Increasing crop productivity is of global
concern, and will require the development of new technologies. Inputs to
optimize crop productivity can be applied through soil and water and a crop
will thrive if all inputs are optimal. To achieve optimum crop productivity,
the soil should be fertile because plants absorb nutrients from this source.
The continuing need for increased crop productivity dictates increasing demands
on soil fertility world-wide (Wild, 2003). Thus, the soil is one of the most
important considerations for plant growth and development. However, to keep
soil fertile is highly technical and requires thorough knowledge of soil
quality and health; this refers to the soil's fitness to support crop growth
without becoming degraded or otherwise harming the environment (Acton and Gregorich
1995).
Sustainable soil fertility management has
been suggested as essential to the prosperity of many households in the
mid-hills of Nepal (Pilbeam et al.
2005). Therefore, sustainable management of soil using inputs such as compost,
cattle manure, poultry manure, microorganisms and charcoal and soot, and their
known crop performance benefits are matters of interest.
One way to improve soil fertility in both
intensive and marginal agriculture is to apply amendments to increase soil
organic matter content and health (Abington 1992; Sherchan and Karki 2005;
Tiwari et al. 2010). In addition,
loss of organic C from cultivated agricultural soils has generated interest in
C-sequestration (Gami et al. 2009).
Traditionally, soil amendments have included farm yard manure (Bista et al., 2010), composted manure
(Shrestha et al., 2000), poultry
manure (Uddin et al., 2009) and
cattle manure (Abington, 1992).
Rising carbon dioxide concentrations in
the atmosphere and consequent concerns about climate change make it imperative
to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Lehmann, 2007).Part of the
uncertainty associated with soil carbon is that in some forms it is not stable.
Soil organic matter decomposes. Labile carbon, such as that in the microbial
biomass, has a turnover of one to five years, whereas humic carbon may take
decades to decompose and inert organic matter such as charcoal may take
thousands of years (Winsley, 2007). The longevity of charcoal in soil has led
to the suggestion that the production of chars through the pyrolysis of biomass
and incorporation of those chars into soils could be a feasible method of
sequestering carbon (Lehmann et al.,
2006; Swift, 2001). Chars are already widely present in soils due to natural
events, e.g. forest fires (Skjemstad et
al., 1996) and anthropogenic processes, e.g. Amazonian terra preta soils
(Winsley, 2007).
Petroleum products are some of the most
widely used chemicals (Sarkar et al.,
2005) which because of their wide usage, can easily spill, leak or be
discharged to the environment. According to Adedokun and Ataga, (2007), the
leakage, discharge and spillage of petroleum products lead to the pollution of
terrestrial and aquatic environments. It has been known that soil contamination
by petroleum products is one of the world’s most common environmental problems
(USEPA, 2000). The presence of petroleum products in the environment poses
danger to the growth of plants and the wellbeing of animals resident or
dependent on the environment. Several researchers have shown that the
individual petroleum products have effects on the growth and performance of
plants (Odjegba and Sadiq, 2002; Adenipekun et
al., 2008; Ogbo, 2009).
The rise in energy consumption worldwide
is not without a price and the activities associated with crude oil production,
exploration, transportation and marketing have led to increased number of oil
spills both on land and into water bodies. The trend shows continuous increases
in oil pollution which can be attributed
to the increasing dependence on oil based technology such as fuels for
aircrafts, automobiles and heating systems, although there have been recent
advances in alternative sources of energy such as production of biofuels
(Wokocha et al., 2011). It is
difficult to draw a line between effects of oil pollution on man, soil and
plants as these three are interwoven.
The effects of oil in soil include
depression and inhibition of plant growth, by interfering with the
soil-water-plant interrelationships (Agbogidi and Ejemete, 2005; Agbogidi and
Dolor, 2007).
Cowpea (Vignia unguiculata L.) is a popular leguminous food in Nigeria
(Adelaja, 2000; Adaji et al., 2007).
Cowpea belongs to the family Fabaceae and sub-family Faboideae. It is
cultivated and used fresh in derived savannah and rainforest belts thus, it is
available throughout the year either as vegetable or as a pulse (Singh and
Rachie, 1985; Asumugha, 2002; Olapade et
al., 2002).
Maize is grown in tropical, sub-tropical
and temperate climates (FAOAGL, 2002). The highest production, however, occurs
between 21 and 27oC with annual precipitation of 250 to 5000 mm.
Soil water availability is often the main factor limiting rain fed maize
production. In these water-limited systems, efficient capture and retention of
precipitation is essential to maximize crop growth. This is especially true for
summer annual crops such as maize, which exhibit yield reductions in response
to soil water deficits at any growth phase.
Okra, (Abelmoschusesculentus,
L. (Moench) belongs to the malvacea family. There are two cultivated types of
okra, (Abelmoschusesculentus, L.
(Moench) and West African okra,
(Abelmoschuscaillei).Okra
plays an important role in the diet by supplying carbohydrate, protein, fat,
minerals and vitamins that are usually deficient in the staple food. Okra is basically
low in calories and dry matter constituents which when consumed in a meal with
basic starchy food makes the food more palatable (Savello et al, 1982).
It is an important vegetable crop grown
throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa (Bisht and
Bhat, 2006). Okra is believed to originate probably from South East Asia. It is
popular in West Africa, Brazil, Phillipian, Thailand and India (ECHO, 2003). It
is distributed also to other parts of the globe by the Portuguese (Sinnadurai,
1992).
In Africa, okra is cultivated because of
its high mucilage content which is used in thickening soup (Purseglove 1968,
Wolfe et al., 1977). Fresh okra is
high in vitamin A, B and C and in calcium (NARP, 1993). Significant levels of
carbohydrates, potassium, magnesium and other vitamins are also present in okra
(Norman, 1992, Adeboye and Oputa, 1996). Reports indicates that a good source
of affordable vitamins, calcium, potassium and other minerals which are absent
in the diet of most developing countries are supplied by okra (IBPGR, 1991).
Essential and non- essential amino- acid that okra contains is comparable to
that of soya bean. Okra therefore plays an important role in human diet. The
green tender fruits of okra are highly nutritious containing 1107mg calcium and
8.9 mg of Iron for every 1000 g edible portion and fair amount of vitamins
viz., A, B and C. It is also rich in protein and crude fiber, (Sona,Thamp and
Indira, 2000). Recently, attention has been given to the use of okra seeds as
sources of proteins (about 20% of dry matter) and vegetable oil (about 14 % of
dry matter). Seeds contain mainly monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic) and
palmitic acid
(Martin and Rhodes, 1983) and have high
lysine levels. The roasted seeds are used as a substitute for coffee. It is a
potential export earner accounting for 60 percent of exported fresh vegetable
(Sharma and Arora, 1993). Apart from its nutritive value, the stem and fruit
sheath is used in the manufacture of paper as they contain of crude fibre.
1.2 Justification
Pattern of bush burning and the use of
ruminants of selective grass and tree burning has remain a huge task to the
environment, this is in no discount to the amount of carbon soot released to
the environment by car using the roads. Cooking in the rural communities are
usually done with wood which leaves huge amount of charcoal, ash and soot sometime they are improperly discharged to
the immediate environment.
Part of the uncertainty associated with
soil carbon is that in some forms it is not stable. Soil organic matter
decomposes. Labile carbon, such as that in the microbial biomass, has a
turnover of one to five years, whereas humid carbon may take decades to
decompose and inert organic matter such as charcoal may take thousands of years
(Winsley, 2007). The longevity of charcoal in soil has led to the suggestion
that the production of chars through the pyrolysis of biomass and incorporation
of those chars into soils could be a feasible method of sequestering carbon
(Lehmann et al. 2006; Swift 2001).
Chars are already widely present in soils due to natural events, e.g. forest
fires (Skjemstad et al. 1996) and
anthropogenic processes, e.g. Amazonian terra preta soils (Winsley, 2007).
The need to evaluate the effect of these
carbon sources to plants such as Cow-pea(VigniaunguiculataL.),
Maize (Zea mays) and Okro (Abelmoschusesculentus) is therefore very
necessary, thus the necessity of this research.
1.3 Objectives of Study
The general aim of this study is to assess the effect
of three carbon sources on the germination of Cow-pea (Vignia unguiculata
L.), Maize (Zea mays) and Okro (Abelmoschus esculentus).
The specific objectives are:
i.
To determine and compare
the effect of three carbon sources on the germination of Cow-pea (Vignia unguiculataL.), Maize (Zea
mays) and Okro (Abelmoschus esculentus).
ii.
To determine and compare
the effect of three carbon sources on the growth of plant species.
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