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Title: EFFECTS OF LONG TERM SEWAGE SLUDGE USE ON MORPHOLOGYICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF A NIGERIAN ULTISOL

Author
item MBILA, M - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item THOMPSON, M - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item MBAGUWU, J - UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
item Laird, David

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sewage sludge application to agricultural lands is one way to address the high demand for and low supply of commercial fertilizers in Nigeria. This study was conducted to determine the changes in morphological and chemical properties of a sludge-amended soil. Two pedons on a 5-ha sewage farm and one control pedon were selected for the study. The control pedon was a Nsukka sandy loam (course-loamy, kaolinitic, isohyperthermic Rhodic Kandiustult). Sludge amendment increased the exchangeable bases, total soil C and N, and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the amended soils compared with the control soil. Sludge amendment also promoted biological activity and greater aggregate development. After more than 37 years of sewage-sludge amendment, the base saturation of the subsurface horizons had changed enough to warrant reclassification of the sludge-amended soils from Ultisols to Alfisols.