%0 Journal Article
%T Response of Maize (Zea mays L.) to Different Rates of Palm Bunch Ash Application in the Semi-deciduous Forest Agro-ecological Zone of Ghana
%A S. Adjei-Nsiah
%J Applied and Environmental Soil Science
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/870948
%X The effects of palm bunch ash (PBA) and mineral fertilizer application on grain yield and nutrient uptake in maize and soil chemical properties were studied in both the major and minor rainy seasons in the semi-deciduous forest agro-ecological zone of Ghana. In both the major and minor rainy seasons, the response of maize to four levels (0, 2, 4, and 6 tons per hectare) of palm bunch ash and 200 kg per hectare of NPK (15-15-15) application was evaluated using randomised complete block design. Results of the study showed that application of palm bunch ash significantly ( ) increased soil pH, soil phosphorus, and exchangeable cations. Maize grain yield varied significantly ( ) among the different treatments in both the major and minor rainy seasons. The highest maize grain yield of 4530 and 6120£¿kg£¿ was obtained at PBA application rate of 2 tons for the major and minor rainy seasons, respectively. 1. Introduction Empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the major waste products generated from processing fresh fruit bunch (FFB) in palm fruit processing mills. About 22% of FFB processed into oil end up as EFB [1]. Currently, Ghana produces about 1,900,000 metric tons of FFB annually [2] which, when processed into oil, generate 418,000 MT of EFB annually. In the large industrial estates, EFB is either incinerated in the mills as a means of getting rid of these wastes¡¯ as well as, providing energy for the boilers in FFB sterilization. However, the small-scale mills which process about 60% of the total FFB produced in the country [3] burn the EFB as a means of disposing them, resulting in heaps of ash dotted around small-scale mills in the major oil palm producing areas in Ghana. There is currently no large-scale use for palm bunch ash in Ghana, although it could be used for the manufacture of local soap due to its high potassium content. The palm bunch ash (PBA) produced by burning EFB, which constitutes about 6.5% by weight of the EFB, contains 30¨C40% K2O [1] and could thus be used as source of potassium fertilizer. Most soils in the forest part of southern Ghana where oil palm is cultivated are acidic due to the nature of the parent material, high rainfall regime, intensity, and associated leaching of nutrients which requires sustainable liming. Preliminary analysis of bunch ash of different ages from processing mills in Kade (unpublished results) indicates that besides K, palm bunch ash has high pH and contains varying amounts of other nutrients such as calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg). These properties of palm bunch ash make it suitable as a
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aess/2012/870948/