Effect of Forest Litter Compost on Some Soil Physico-Chemical Properties and Potato (Solanum tuberosum var. PO3) Yield

Abstract

The study was conducted at the Soil Science Experimental area of the Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet from December 2015 to May 2016 to: (1) determine the nutrient content of forest litter compost; (2) determine the effect of forest litter on the yield of potato;(3) determine the rate of forest litter compost that is comparable to the farmers practice (chicken dung); (4) determine the effect of forest litter compost on some physico-chemical soil properties and; (5) determine the (Return on Cash Expense) ROCE of potato as affected by forest litter compost. The treatments were: a) Control (T1); b) 5 tons ha-1 chicken manure (T2); c) 5 tons ha-1 forest litter compost (T3) ; d) 10 tons ha-1 forest litter compost (T4) ; e) 15 tons ha-1 forest litter compost (T5) ; f) 20 tons ha-1 forest litter compost (T6) ; g) 25tons ha-1 forest litter compost (T7) . The forest litter compost was tested on potato production. The soil physical properties like bulk density, porosity, and water holding capacity were all improved by the forest litter compost. Likewise, some soil chemical properties like soil pH, OM, organic N, available P, exchangeable K and CEC of the soil were all enhanced. The best rate of forest litter compost that is comparable to the 5 tons ha-1 CM in terms of total yield of potato per 5m2 is 5 tons ha-1 of forest litter compost. However in terms of percentage of ROCE 25 tons ha-1 forest litter compost is the only treatment that is comparable to the 5 tons ha-1 CM.