Abstract:

Maize is an important crop that has the potential to alleviate hunger and ensure food security in Nigeria. Organic fertilizers have been used by farmers based on choice and availability. Nevertheless, the comparative efficiency of each organic manure in improving crop yield is lacking. Therefore, the comparative effect of organic fertilizers on the growth of maize was investigated. Materials and Methods Twenty-four (24) bags were filled with about 4000g of soil of uniform properties. Six bags each, cow dung, goat dung, and poultry while six bags were left as control. Two varieties of maize namely the Local variety and Sammaz 15 were sown into the soils according to the experimental design. Results: Results showed significantly greater height and number of leaves for Sammaz 15 (11.88 and 65.24) compared to the local variety (11.33 and 60.61) while stem diameter and leaf area were higher for the local variety (4.66 and 378.00) compared to Sammaz 15 (4.21 and 347.02). Goat dung produced a significantly higher number of leaves and height (12.21 and 68.62) compared to poultry (12.02 and 59.31) cow dung (11.60 and 68.26) and control (10.58 and 55.50). Significantly higher stem diameter and leaf area were however recorded for poultry droppings (5.08 and 406.83) compared to goat dung (4.73 and 370.66), cow dung (4.19 and 360.80), and control (3.75 and 311.76 respectively). Interaction between Sammaz 15 and poultry droppings produced a significantly higher number of leaves than the other interactions. Conclusion: Goat dung improves plant height and number of leaves better than cow dung and poultry droppings while leaf area and stem diameter are enhanced more by poultry droppings. The use of organic manure should be promoted in preference to inorganic fertilizers.