EFFECT OF ANIMAL MANURE GENERATED EFFLUENTS ON DIGESTIBILITY AND In vitro GAS PRODUCTION OF Megathyrsus maximus

Abstract

ABSTRACT Animal manure being a natural organic fertilizer and when applied aids soil fertilization and maintenance of crop nutrition unlike the inorganic fertilizers which when applied act fast and later cause harm to the soil organisms. The focus of the management is the management of the soil organic matter through the integrated use of mineral fertilizers with organic inputs. Also, the increase in price of inorganic fertilizers and increasing concerns about soil and environmental quality deterioration led to the research on the effect of animal manure generated effluents on the digestibility and In vitro gas production of Megathyrsus maximus. Three different organic manure were used (poultry manure, Swine manure, and Cow manure) and one inorganic fertilizer (NPK). The result shows that during digestibility, poultry manure competes with NPK fertilizer as it was significant (p<0.05) throughout the period of digestibility i.e. 24hours. For In vitro gas production, it was deduced that swine manure performed best as two of its parameters (methane and carbon dioxide) are highly significant and this shows a good advantage of using an organic fertilizer over an inorganic fertilizer. However, it has been shown that organic fertilizer could be adopted and used in fertilizing Megathyrsus maximus.