Effects of the Palm Kernel Cake as an Ameliorant on Upland Acid Soils in Sierra Leone

Abstract

Upland soils in Sierra Leone are strongly weathered and leached with poor physical and chemical properties in the effort to curtail the adverse effects caused by the poor status of soils in Sierra Leone. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the palm kernel cake (PKC) as an ameliorate on upland acid soils. This study was conducted in the Quality Control Laboratory at Njala University, Sierra Leone. The study comprises five treatments namely soil incorporated with 0.25 g PKC/200 g soil (equivalent of 2.5 t/ha), soil incorporated with 0.50 g PKC/200 g soil (equivalent of 5.0 t/ha), soil incorporated with 0.75 g PKC200 g soil (equivalent of 7.5 t/ha), soil incorporated with 1.00 g PKC/200 g soil (equivalent of 10.0 t/ha), and control, no soil treatment. The result showed that an increase in PKC reduced the effect of both exchangeable acidity and exchangeable aluminum while increasing phosphorus availability. There was a significant (r2 = 0.97) correlation between the level of PKC applied and the amount of phosphorus available in the soil. This study showed that PKC was effective in the amelioration of soil acidity encountered on upland soils. Therefore, farmers operating in acidic soil conditions could apply PKC to increase phosphorus availability for plant uptake.