Effects of Manure-Fertilizer Schedules on the Yield and Uptake of Nutrients by Cereal Fodder Crops and on Soil Fertility

In field experiments conducted during 1993 and 1994 on a clay loam soil, three cereal crops of sorghum (Co. 27), maize (African tall) and pearlmillet (Co.8) were grown in main plots with eighteen subplots treatments involving four manures (poultry manure, sheepgoat manure, biogas manure and FYM) at 5 and 10 t ha⁻¹ and NPK at 50 and 100 per cent recommended levels (60-40-20 kg of N, P₂O₄ and K₂O ha⁻¹). The green and dry fodder yields of the cereal fodders, the soil fertility status, and the content and uptake of N, P and K were significantly higher in the treatments that received poultry manure or sheep-goat manure at 10 t ha⁻¹ with 50 per cent of the recommended NPK schedule than the yields in the treatment that had received NPK alone. Among the manures, poultry manure and sheep-goat manure seemed to be more efficacious than the other two.