ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to detect the microorganisms in three different types of soil: top soil, soil treated with cow dung, soil treated with Trichoderma sp., planted with Celosia under different watering schedules. The experiment was carried out at the University of Benin's Faculty of Agriculture, Crop Science Laboratory department, in Benin City. The Student-Newman-Keul test was used to differentiate the three replications of the experiment, which was set up in a completely randomized design (CRD). From the experiment, seven fungal isolates were identified (Trichoderma sp., Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp., Mucor mucedo, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Cladosporium sp., and Neurospora sp.) and three bacterial isolates (Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp., and Staphylococcus aureus). The presence of Trichoderma sp. confirms the effectiveness of the treatment, and the variety of bacterial and fungal species points to the existence of a sophisticated soil ecosystem. Different watering regimes were found to exhibit varying levels of microbial population and diversity. Soil treatment with cow dung had the highest microbial population (97.78 x 10-5 cfu/g) for fungi, while top soil had the highest microbial population (183.8 x 10- 5 cfu/g) for bacteria. Watering every four days had the highest microbial count (91.85 x 10- 5 cfu/g) for fungi , but statistically with watering very day and every two days respectively. The integration between soil treatment, watering regime and soil incubation duration for microbial count was highly significant with 5972.5 for fungi and 5808.9 for bacteria. Based on the findings in this study, it was recommended that top soil and soil treated with cow dung coupled with watering everyday and every four days should be used to maintain consistent microbial population of the soil, thereby improving the general health and fertility of the soil.
