Response of Bambara Groundnut and Soil Physicochemical Properties to Different Lime Materials

The study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Soil Science Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus. The treatments studied were paper ash (PA) and wood ash (WA) of rates 4.8 kgha-1 respectively and calcium carbonate (CA) of rate 120g (equivalent of 300kgha-1) and control (CO). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and was replicated four times. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were separated using LSD at 5% alpha level. The result recorded for the study showed that root and pod weight of bambara groundnut were not significant among the treatments but values obtained from treated plots were better than the untreated plots. Soil properties tested were greatly improved by the lime materials when compared their values on the control soil. Hence the results indicated that the lime materials especially the wood ash and paper ash could be ideal for famers as they are cheap affordable and available since it has proved through this study that these lime materials could improve crop yield and soil nutrient status and characteristics.