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ABSTRACT
Soil horizons are soil layers that reflect soil processes and provide data on historical and present soil conditions. It is an important property of any soil since it determines rooting, moisture and nutrient storage, mineral reserve, anchoring, and a variety of other circumstances that affect plant growth, thus affecting crop production for life sustenance. Organic fertilizers are typically added to soils to improve their physicochemical and biological qualities, hence optimizing plant growth and preserving soil conservation. The implications of applying organic fertilizers made from dried cow dung and food waste on the seedling development and growth of Amaranthus viridis at different soil horizons was examined in the current study. The experiment was set up in a completely randomised design, with 6 profile depths x 3 fertilizer treatments x 3 replicates each, totaling 54 bowls. The set up was left for 5 weeks. The findings demonstrated that cow dung manure provided adequate plant nutrients for enhancing seedling growth A. viridis. Although 0.05g seeds of Amaranthus viridis was sown in the bowls, emergence capacities under varying soil conditions differed. Amending the soils with food waste manure (FWM) hampered emergence capacities of the test plant. There were only six (06) sprouts at the first week compared to 46 in the control. Although Root length of the seedlings at 5 weeks, which ranged from 1.3 cm – 2.3 cm, was not affected by soil horizon or by application of organic fertilizer, application of manure decreased incidence of foliar chlorosis in the seedlings. Without manure, foliar chlorotic incidence was 58% in the 61 – 75 cm soil profile depth, compared to 35.0 – 35.2% when soils were amended with either cow-dung (CDM) or FWM. Conclusively, deeper soil horizons presented with soil unfavorable conditions for growth; these were however alleviated after soil amendment.
