Effects of Poultry Manure on the Growth, Physiology, Yield, and Yield-Related Traits of Maize Varieties

Industries play a significant role in the improvementof lifestyleand in the development of a country. However, the byproducts fromthese industries are a source of environmental pollution. The properuse of the byproducts of these industries can help to cope with environmentalpollution. Some byproducts have high nutritional content and are goodfor crop plants. The purpose of this research was to investigate theeffect of different rates of poultry manure on the soil chemical properties,growth, and yield of maize. A pot experiment was conducted in thebotanical garden of the Department of Botany, University of Sargodha,Pakistan to investigate the effect of various treatments of poultrymanure (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 g/pot) on the morphological, physiological,and yield attributes of two maize varieties, Pearl and MMRI. TreatmentT(1) was a mixture of soil and 75 g/pot poultry manure, T-2 was a mixture of soil and 50 g/pot poultry manure, T-3 was a mixture of soil and 25 g/pot poultry manure, and T-4 was 100 g/pot poultry manure. Soil without any industrialbyproduct (100% soil only) was used as the control (T-0).The results revealed that the use of poultry manure enhanced the physicalproperties of the soil. Available P and soil organic matter were improvedin soil amended with poultry manure. It is evident from the resultsthat the vegetative growth of both maize varieties was significantlyenhanced by growing in soil amended with poultry manure as comparedto their respective control. Similar responses were also recordedfor the physiological attributes of leaf area, photosynthetic rate,transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiencyof both varieties. Yield and yield-contributing traits of both maizevarieties were significantly improved by growing plants in soil amendedwith 50 and 75 g/pot of poultry manure. It is also inferred that theuse of 50 g/pot poultry manure in soil amendment is an eco-friendlyand economically effective option for maize growers of arid and semiaridregions to enhance the kernel yield and profit per annum. Poultrymanure could be useful to ameliorate the adverse effects of salinitystress on all parameters, particularly the grain yield. Furthermore,this would be a useful and economical method for the safe disposalof byproducts.