International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

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International Soil and Water Conservation Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/iswcr

Original Research Article

Influence of mulch and poultry manure application on soil

temperature, evapotranspiration and water use efficiency of dry
season cultivated okra
Mutiu Abolanle Busari*, Ganiyu Olawale Bankole, Idris Adebanjo Adiamo,
Rasaq Olayiwola Abiodun, Olanrewaju Hammed Ologunde
Department of Soil Science and Land Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, P.M.B., 2240, Abeokuta, Nigeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sustainable vegetable production especially during the dry season requires adequate conservation of soil
Received 22 May 2022 water. This study was conducted to evaluate the sole and interactive effects of mulching (M) and poultry
Received in revised form manure (PM) application on soil temperature (ST), crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and water use efficiency
31 August 2022
(WUE) of okra. The experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates.
Accepted 13 September 2022
The treatments were M at 0 and 6 t ha
1 and PM at 0, 10 and 20 t ha
1. Soil temperature was measured
Available online 30 September 2022
using digital thermometer while ETc was determined by water depletion method using a Time Domain
Reflectometer. Irrigation at field capacity was applied manually at 2-day intervals. Independent appli-
Keywords:
Evapotranspiration
cation of mulch significantly lowered ST while joint application of 20 t ha
1 PM (PM20) and M signifi-
Soil temperature cantly (p  0.05) reduced ST at 5 cm and 10 cm soil depth compared with the unmulched plots in both
Volumetric water content seasons. Application of 10 t ha
1 PM (PM10) without M recorded the highest ETc (43.7 mm), while joint
Water depletion method application of PM20 and M reduced ETc by about 93% compared with PM10 only. Okra used water most
Water use efficiency efficiently when PM20 was applied under mulched plot. There was 62.2% increase in WUE under
mulched plots compared with the control while the residual effect of PM10 and M significantly increased
WUE by 65.5%. It was evident that M alongside application of PM is a good strategy for regulating ST,
moderating ETc and increasing okra WUE, especially during dry season farming.
© 2022 International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation, China Water and
Power Press, and China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research. Publishing services by
Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-
NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction p. 126). Mulching in crop production is important in soil temper-

ature regulation, soil moisture conservation and could result in an
Conservation of soil water is an important approach towards eventual increase in soil organic matter content upon decomposi-
sustainable land management. Strategies targeted at moderating tion. This could lead to provision of a better soil hydrothermal
soil temperature (ST) and regulating crop evapotranspiration (ETc) environment for the growth and development of crops (Liao et al.,
could positively impact crop water use efficiency (WUE), thereby 2022). However, mulch can also absorb or block water from light
improving sustainable crop production. Water scarcity especially rains thereby preventing water from reaching the surface of the
during the dry season, is a major crop cultivation and production soil. Therefore, maximizing the benefits of mulch to minimize its
issue that requires attention to ensure sustainable food supply. negative effects, requires its application at the onset of dry season
Natural methods such as mulching (M) can be used for soil mois- when the moisture content of the soil is relatively still high and the
ture conservation, soil health and fertility improvement, mini- temperature of the soil have started to increase significantly
mizing weed growth, enhancing visual appeal of the soil (Dorling, (Patrick, 2004). Mulching influences the moisture regime of the soil
2008, p. 1136) and regulating soil temperature (Alfred et al., 2009, favourably by regulating the soil surface evaporation (Anikwe et al.,
2007), thereby increasing infiltration rate (Jones & Sing, 2000), and
improving soil water retention (Anikwe et al., 2007; Bhagat &
* Corresponding author. Acharya, 1987).
E-mail addresses: busarima@funaab.edu.ng, busamut@gmail.com (M.A. Busari). Improvement in water holding capacity of the soil by organic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2022.09.003
2095-6339/© 2022 International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation, China Water and Power Press, and China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.
Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

manuring has been reported (Busari & Salako, 2015; Mosaddeghi savannah climates. The location of the site lies between Latitude 7
et al., 2009) and could therefore be a good soil water conserva- 120 N to 7 200 N and longitude 3 200 E to 3 280 E (Salako et al.,
tion approach. It was also reported by Busari et al. (2010) that 2007). A detailed description, including the map, of the study
poultry manure (PM) has the benefit of holding water tightly in the area is contained in Busari (2017).
soil such that removing it requires more energy. Apart from water
retention properties, organic manures are good sources of macro 2.2. Experimental design
and micro nutrients that are important for optimal growth and
development of plants (Magkos et al., 2003). Nutrients contained in The field study was conducted as a 2  3 factorial experiment
PM have longer residual effects because they are released more laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The factors
slowly and as such have resulted in good crop development and were M (0 and 6 t ha
1) and PM application (0, 10 and 20 t ha
1)
higher yields (Abou et al., 2005) due to higher nutrient recovery replicated three times. The control plots contained no mulch
rate compared with mineral fertilizer (Ferreira et al., 2022). Apart (unmulched - M0) and no PM (PM0). The plot size was 4 m by 3 m,
from the soil physical, chemical and biological fertility improve- making an area of 12 m2 with 1 m inter-plot spacing (Fig. 1).
ment associated with poultry manure application, it also helps in
overcoming the disposal problems of poultry droppings (Friend 2.3. Treatments
et al., 2006; Kumar et al., 2020; McGrath et al., 2009).
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a mechanism that is related directly A preliminary trial (unpublished) revealed that 6 t h
1 of dry
to the availability of soil water and prevailing temperature. Direct Pennisetum purpureum effectively covered the soil surface without
measurement of evapotranspiration is not easy but the use of being too thick to either interfere with the growing seedlings or
specific devices and measurements of some physical parameters or significantly reduce water reaching the soil surface from the at-
the soil water balance could be helpful to determine evapotrans- mosphere. The use of high rate of PM such as 20 t ha
1 in reducing
piration (Koster et al., 2004). Devises such as Time Domain Re- fast draining soil macropores (Busari & Salako, 2015) and in holding
flectometers (TDR) have been successfully used to measure soil water tightly in the soil (Busari et al., 2010) have been demon-
moisture content in cropped field from where crop ET could be strated. Therefore, this study which aimed at soil water conserva-
inferred. Time domain reflectometry is the most common non- tion used 6 t ha
1 grass mulch and 10 and 20 t ha
1 PM as
destructive method used in the measurement of soil water con- treatments.
tent (He et al., 2021). Poultry manure was collected and air dried to cure for 2 weeks
A very good indicator of crop biomass production relative to before allocating according to treatments (0, 10 and 20 t ha
1). At 2
water consumption is known as water use efficiency (WUE) and it is weeks before planting, poultry manure was incorporated manually
a ratio between two agronomic (crop yield and water consumption) into the soil using hand held hoe while dry mulch (Pennisetum
or physiological (transpiration and photosynthesis) parameters purpureum) was weighed and applied two weeks after planting at
(Blum, 2005). Reports about WUE in relation to ET still remains the rate of 0 and 6 t ha
1 in 2016. The mulch material was applied in
unclear. According to Aggarwal et al. (1986) WUE is inversely each plot according to the treatment by spreading thinly on the plot
related to ET while Musick et al. (1994) observed no change in WUE surface. Residual effects were studied in 2017 without re-
with seasonal ET. What is important to note, however, is that WUE application of treatments.
becomes most efficient when optimum yield is obtained from the
least amount of water supplied to the crop (Axel et al., 2005), and it 2.4. Planting of okra
may be estimated in terms of WUE for the harvest index or biomass
growth (Condon et al., 2002). Several water conservation methods Okra seeds (NHAe 47-4 variety) were obtained from National
have been investigated on agricultural soils and techniques such as Institute of Horticultural Research (NIHORT) Ibadan, Nigeria. The
M and PM application could be one of the ways by which WUE can first dry season planting of okra seeds was done on the January 29,
be enhanced. According to Hatfield and Dold (2019), higher WUE 2016. The planting spacing was 50 cm by 40 cm. Okra seeds were
can be achieved by embracing practices that reduce the evapora- planted at 3 seeds per hole and then thinned to 2 seedlings two
tion component of the soil water by diverting more water into weeks after planting. Second dry season planting was carried out
transpiration through application of mulches. on the February 15, 2017 (delayed occasioned by untimely avail-
Lack of water during dry season farming and its consequences ability of planting seeds).
on soil and crop productivity cannot be understated. There is,
therefore, a need to develop a means of reducing evaporation and 2.5. Data collection
moderate crop evapotranspiration especially during the critical
period of food production. It is hypothesized that mulching Irrigation was applied manually at field capacity by applying
alongside poultry manure application could regulate soil temper- equal volume of water to each plot using a watering can at 2 days
ature, moderate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and consequently interval. Evapotranspiration was estimated by water depletion
crop water use efficiency. This experiment was therefore, carried method using a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). This was done
out to evaluate the independent and interactive effects of mulching by measuring the soil volumetric water content immediately after
and poultry manure application on soil temperature, crop evapo- irrigation and 48 h after irrigation.
transpiration and water use efficiency of okra under dry seasons Crop evapotranspiration was obtained using the formula given
farming. below:

2. Materials and methods X

n
M1i
M2i
ETc ¼ :Di [1]
100
i¼1
2.1. Description of experimental site
Where ETc ¼ crop evapotranspiration for each sampling interval
The experiment was carried out during the dry seasons of 2016 (mm)
and 2017 at Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB)
located in a transition zone between tropical sub-humid and M1i ¼ volumetric water content (%) at the time of irrigation
383
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Fig. 1. Plot layout.

REP - replicate; PM10 - 10 t ha
1 Poultry manure; PM20 - 20 t ha
1 Poultry manure; PM0 - No poultry manure (control); M6 - 6 t ha
1 Mulching; M0 - No mulching (control).

M2i ¼ volumetric water content (%) 48 h after irrigation conductivity (Ks) while the hydrometer method with sodium-
D ¼ depth of the soil (mm) which is equivalent to the length of hexameta-phosphate (Calgon) as dispersant was employed to
the TDR prongs. obtain the particle size analysis of the soil. Organic carbon was
Seasonal ETc was obtained by summing the ETc values of determined by wet oxidation with potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7)
each sampling interval. while the Bray-1 extractant (0.025 M HCl þ 0.03 N NH4F) procedure
was used to determine the soil available P (Bray & Kurtz, 1945). The
Water use efficiency (WUE) was estimated as the ratio of total total nitrogen was measured using micro Kjeldahl distillation pro-
biomass to irrigation water consumed cedure. Ammonium acetate (pH 7) was used to extract the
exchangeable cations before Ca and Mg were measured using
Total biomass Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) while K and Na were
WUE ¼ [2]
irrigation water used determined using a Flame Photometer (Thomas, 1982).
Total biomass was taken as sum of all weekly okra fruit yield
harvested from tagged plants (five stands per plot) and the dry matter 2.7. Statistical analysis
yield. Fresh okra fruit harvest started at 8 WAP and this continued till
13 WAP. The fresh fruits were oven dried at 65  C on weekly basis to The data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance
constant weight and added to dry matter yield taken after final har- (ANOVA) using GenStat Discovery Edition (2014). Significant means
vest at 13 WAP to obtain the total biomass (data not shown). were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) at a 5%
probability level. The graphs were plotted using ggplot2 package of
R studio (R Core Team, 2021).
2.6. Soil physicochemical analysis
3. Results and discussion
Soil samples were taken for pre-planting laboratory analysis.
The pH of the soil was measured using glass electrode pH meter in 3.1. Physical and chemical properties of the soil used for the study
1:2 soil-water ratio. Bulk density (BD) was obtained by dividing the
oven dried weight of the soil by the soil total volume. Total porosity The textural class of the soil used for the study was loamy sand
was estimated from the BD values ((1-BD/PD) x 100; assumed PD is (Table 1). The pH of the soil was acidic (5.60) while the organic
2.65 g cm
3 where PD is the particle density). The constant head carbon content was moderate (0.6%). Exchangeable cations of the soil
method was used to determine the soil saturated hydraulic were high. The cations order of abundance was; Ca > Mg > K > Na.
384
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Table 1 were mulched and this may be due to direct contact of solar radi-
Physicochemical properties of the soil of the experimental sites at the onset of ation on the soil which increased water loss and evapotranspiration
the study.
under unmulched compared with the mulched plots (Alfred et al.,
Parameters Value 2009, p. 126; Patrick, 2004).
pH (water) 5.60
Bulk density (g cm
3) 1.23 3.4. Effect of poultry manure on okra ET
Total porosity (%) 46.42
Hydraulic conductivity (cm hr
1) 14.22
During the first planting season, application of PM20 generally
Sand (g kg
1) 792
Silt (g kg
1) 98 resulted in the lowest ETc compared with PM10 and the control,
Clay(g kg
1) 110 though these ETc values were only significantly lower at 2 and 5
Textural class Loamy sand WAP (Fig. 3). This suggests that poultry manure has the capacity of
Total N (%) 0.06
holding water tightly in the soil (Busari et al., 2010) which could
Total Org C (%) 0.6
Available P (mg kg
1) 43.94
reduce evapotranspiration. At the second planting season similar
Ca (cmol kg
1) 12.97 results were observed, though with smaller values of ETc which
Mg (cmol kg
1) 1.18 were not significantly affected by different PM rates. Higher ability
Na (cmol kg
1) 0.27 of animal manure to retain soil water (Busari & Salako, 2015;
K (cmol kg
1) 0.7
Khaleel et al., 1981) could be responsible for lower crop ET in plots
Al þ H (cmol kg
1) 0.1
ECEC (cmol kg
1) 15.22 treated with PM. This result agreed with that of Wang et al. (2010)
Base sat (%) 99.93 who reported that poultry manure decreased the rate of evapo-
Mn (mg kg
1) 49.9 transpiration which may be due to less water lost with manure
Fe (mg kg
1) 7.23 application.
Cu (mg kg
1) 0.69
Zn (mg kg
1)) 1.63
3.5. Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on okra ET

With the exception of the first and third WAP, application of PM

The available P status of the soil was very high while the N status was
jointly with mulch significantly affected the okra ET (Table 3)
low according to the classification by Landon (1984, p. 450).
during the first cropping season. The joint application of PM20 and
6 t ha
1 mulch significantly reduced the ETc compared to the
3.2. Composition of the poultry manure used for the study
control except at 1 and 3 WAP. However, during the second planting
season, there was generally no significant interactive effect of
The PM used for the study had a near neutral (6.62) pH with
mulch and PM applications compared with those of no mulch and
total organic carbon content and C:N ratio of 3.54% and 18.63,
no PM plots, and where such interaction existed there was no
respectively (Table 2). With the exception of the potassium content
specific pattern. This suggests that the potency of the PM and
which was low, total nitrogen and phosphorus, as well micro-
mulch material used were not effective beyond one planting season
nutrient compositions of the PM used for the study were higher
indicating that annual application of these materials would be
than the reported range of nutrient contents of a deep litter PM
better for effective moderation of evapotranspiration. Previous
(Amanullah et al., 2010).
studies have reported more pronounced benefits from repeated
applications of PM (Hoover et al., 2019) and mulching, especially
3.3. Effect of mulching on okra evapotranspiration (ETc) when organic much that decomposes easily over time are used
(Evans, 2022).
Starting from 2 Weeks After Planting (WAP), significantly lower
ETc was recorded under mulched than unmulched plots in 2016 3.6. Effect of mulching on soil temperature
(Fig. 2). For emphasis, a 41.9 mm ETc observed under unmulched
plots at 8 WAP was the highest while the lowest ETc of 6.3 mm was Except in a few cases, mulching resulted in significantly lower ST
recorded under mulched plots at 7 WAP. This result agreed with the at 5 cm soil depth across the sampling periods at both planting
report of Sun et al. (1994) that M is known to be effective in seasons (Fig. 4). This result was similar with the findings of Hanada
reducing soil evapotranspiration. In the second planting season the (1991). At 1 and 2 WAP of both planting seasons, applied mulch did
crop ET was generally not significantly affected by M. However, ETc not significantly influence ST at 5 cm depth. However, unmulched
was 16.8% higher under unmulched plots compared with plots that plots, during the second planting season, recorded the highest ST
(41.2  C) at 6 WAP at a time when mulched plots had ST of 33.8  C. The
Table 2
effect of mulching on ST at 10 cm depth indicated that there were
Chemical properties of poultry manure used for the study. significant differences between the mulched and unmulched plots at
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 WAPs (Fig. 5). Also, unmulched at 12 WAP resulted in
Parameters Value
the highest temperature (36.5  C) while M at 7 WAP yielded the
pH 6.62 lowest temperature (28  C). Previous reports have indicated that
Total N (%) 3.19
Organic Carbon (%) 3.54
daytime soil temperature is usually decreased by M (Braganolo &
Total P (%) 2.31 Meilniezuk, 1990) which helps in increasing residual soil moisture.
Ca (%) 21.5 At 3 WAP to 15 WAP of the second planting season, application of
Mg (%) 1.36 mulch significantly decreased soil temperature at 10 cm depth.
Na (%) 0.09
Unmulched plot gave the highest soil temperature (37.97  C) at 4
K (%) 0.2
Mn (mg kg
1) 399 WAP while mulched plot recorded the least soil temperature (31.3  C)
Fe (mg kg
1) 282 at 13 WAP. Sol temperature reduction by M, especially during the dry
Cu (mg kg
1) 44 season, has long been recognized (Alfred et al., 2009, p. 126) and this
Zn (mg kg
1) 432 could be attributed to the reduction of direct impact of solar radiation
C:N ratio 18.63
reaching the soil surface as a result of M (Dionne et al. 1999).
385
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Fig. 2. Effect of mulching on okra evapotranspiration.

ETc - crop evapotranspiration.
Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

Fig. 3. Effect of poultry manure on okra evapotranspiration.

ETc - crop evapotranspiration; PM 0 - control; PM 10 - 10 t ha
1 poultry manure; PM 20 - 20 t ha
1 poultry manure.
Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

3.7. Effect of poultry manure on soil temperature temperature (38.1  C) followed by PM 0 t ha
1 at 12 WAP (35.7  C)
while the PM 20 t ha
1 at 7 WAP gave the lowest ST (29.7  C). The
In both planting seasons there were no significant effects among mean soil temperature of the control plot increased by 5.9%
the various PM treatments, though 20 t ha
1 PM recorded the compared with poultry manure amended plots in the second
lowest ST across the sampling periods at 5 cm soil depth (Fig. 6). planting season (2017). At 10 cm soil depth in the first season,
Application of PM at 0 t ha
1 at 13 WAP had the highest application of PM did not significantly affect ST, however, the

386
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Table 3
Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on okra evapotranspiration.

Weeks after planting

Mulch (t ha
1) PM (t ha
1) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2016
0 0 19.8 30.9 24.2 39.5 35.5 20.5 35.5 27.4 39.55 33.8 35.9 27.4 21.5
10 31.8 43.7 27.7 34.4 22.0 16.8 22.0 36.4 36.97 29.9 43.7 36.4 15.9
20 6.1 22.4 26.4 28.5 13.4 14.9 13.4 29.1 35.15 27.1 23.0 29.1 9.8
6 0 38.2 7.3 12.4 13.6 14.1 10.3 14.1 9.2 14.47 8.2 7.9 9.2 7.9
10 21.5 13.1 10.1 9.0 15.1 9.3 15.1 11.8 16.99 5.8 10.1 11.8 7.6
20 14.0 12.5 11.0 6.5 10.5 11.1 10.5 5.9 16.47 8.7 9.2 5.9 3.1
LSD (p < 0.05) ns 14.52 ns 22.39 9.29 8.14 9.29 20.58 5.885 12.18 14.52 20.58 7.01
2017
0 0 22.0 10.7 10.7 6.7 8.7 7.3 6.7 14.0 22.0 26.7 24.7 21.3 16.0
10 8.0 13.3 14.0 8.0 5.3 6.7 11.3 18.7 24.0 30.7 27.3 24.7 10.7
20 36 16.7 11.3 10.7 10.7 10.0 12.7 11.3 21.3 21.3 20.7 20.7 17.3
6 0 17.3 13.3 11.3 4.0 10.7 2.7 13.3 9.3 19.3 13.3 16.0 14.7 18.7
10 27.3 10 10.0 7.3 10.7 2.0 10.0 10.7 15.3 16.0 13.3 11.3 10.0
20 34.7 9.3 10.7 9.3 4.0 6.7 10.7 6.7 24.0 20.7 10.0 11.3 20.0
Lsd (p < 0.05) ns ns ns ns Ns ns ns 8.8 7.96 12.38 15.26 12.5 ns

PM¼ Poultry manure.

Fig. 4. Effect of mulching on soil temperature at 5 cm depth.

Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

control had the highest soil temperature (35.8  C) than other levels increased heat capacity and reduced thermal conductivity (Obia
of PM at 13 WAP (Fig. 7). During the second planting season, ST at et al., 2020).
10 cm depth was not significantly affected by different levels of PM
but the plots without PM conspicuously recorded the highest ST 3.8. Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on soil
across the sampling periods. Control plot had higher temperature temperature at 5 cm depth
(37  C) at 6 WAP followed by 10 t ha
1 PM while the least ST value
(31.7  C) was recorded on plot with 20 t ha
1 PM at 13 WAP (Fig. 7). Application of mulch significant effected soil temperature,
This result indicates that PM has the capacity to moderate soil except at the 1st, 2nd, 7th and 12th WAP of the first planting season
temperature. The lower ST in plots that received PM might be due (Table 4). The combined application of PM20 and mulching
to an increase in organic to mineral mix ratio in the soil within the significantly reduced ST at 5 cm depth compared with the inde-
plots treated with PM. Furthermore, the reduction in ST by PM pendent application of poultry manure at 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and
could not be unconnected with its ability to improve soil water 13 WAPs. At 13 WAP, PM20 application mulching had the highest ST
content because several reports have indicated that organic (38.56  C) at 5 cm depth while at 7 WAP the application of PM20
amendment improved soil moisture (Busari & Salako, 2015; with mulching recorded the lowest ST (29.51  C).
Mosaddeghi et al., 2009) which helped to reduce ST due to both In the second planting season, the control plot had significantly
387
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Fig. 5. Effect of mulching on soil temperature at 10 cm depth.

Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

Fig. 6. Effect of poultry manure on soil temperature at 5 cm depth.

PM 0 - control; PM 10 - 10 t ha
1 poultry manure; PM 20 - 20 t ha
1 poultry manure.
Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

higher soil temperature from 2 to 13 WAP compared to other more effective in regulating the soil thermal regime with increased
treatment combinations. Plots amended with 20 t ha-l PM and M potential to minimize soil water loss via evaporation. This is
recorded the lowest soil temperature except at 1, 5, 6 and 11 WAP because, on one hand, M has the ability to minimize direct impact
while soil temperature in plots amended with different levels of PM of solar radiation (Anikwe et al., 2007) while, on the other hand, PM
alone were inconsistent all through the second season, though has the potential to increase water holding capacity of the soil
lower soil temperature was recorded when applied jointly with (Busari & Salako, 2015; Mosaddeghi et al., 2009) which will lead to
mulch. This implies that combining PM application with M may be less evaporation.

388
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Fig. 7. Effect of poultry manure on soil temperature at 10 cm depth.

PM0 - control; PM 10 - 10 t ha
1 poultry manure; PM 20 - 20 t ha
1 poultry manure.
Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

Table 4
Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on soil temperature at 5 cm depth.

Weeks After Planting

Mulch (t ha
1) PM (t ha
1) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2016
0 0 32.3 31.4 36.3 32.9 34.6 34.4 29.7 35.4 33.9 32.3 33.3 36.9 38.4
10 32.1 31.4 36.5 33.7 34.6 34.8 30.0 35.2 34.2 32.3 33.4 36.2 37.4
20 32.5 31.6 38.4 34 35.0 35.6 29.9 35.8 35.0 32.8 34.6 38.3 38.6
6 0 32.1 30.8 33.9 32.4 32.1 33.2 29.7 33.4 32.7 31.6 32.4 34.5 37.9
10 32.3 30.5 33.1 32.2 32.6 34.7 29.8 33.6 34.2 31.5 32.8 35.6 36.9
20 31.2 30.7 31.7 31.2 32.3 32.1 29.5 33.4 31.9 31.7 31.0 33.2 34.4
Lsd (P < 0.05) ns ns 5.99 2.78 1.92 3.25 ns 2.24 3.22 1.00 3.17 ns 5.41
2017
0 0 35.3 36.9 37.9 39.9 38.9 41.3 38.4 34.6 36.9 34.4 35.3 36.5 35.5
10 34.7 35.9 37.0 39.5 38.3 40.6 37.5 34.2 36.3 33.9 34.9 36.3 34.9
20 35.4 36.6 37.5 39.3 38.5 41.4 37.9 34.4 36.6 34.2 34.7 36.4 35.6
6 0 34.3 36.1 35.4 36.8 35.2 35.4 32.6 32.2 32.9 32.9 32.9 33.2 32.2
10 35.0 35.8 35.6 36.9 35.5 31.6 32.6 32.2 33.7 32.7 32.1 33.2 32.2
20 34.5 35.7 34.7 35.9 34.8 34.2 33.0 31.9 32.9 32.2 32.4 32.8 31.9
Lsd (P < 0.05) ns ns 0.81 2.09 0.93 4.85 1.00 0.60 0.91 1.21 1.25 0.88 2.13

PM¼ Poultry manure.

3.9. Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on soil been reported by Ross et al. (1985). The higher soil water content
temperature at 10 cm depth due to M could be responsible for decreased in soil surface tem-
perature through its effects on soil thermal properties. Similarly,
Except at 2, 6, 9, 10 and 11 WAP of the first season, significant soil moisture conservation by M has been linked with decreased
(p > 0.05) interactive effect of PM and M was observed on soil soil temperature by Zhang et al. (2011).
temperature at 10 cm depth (Table 5). The combined application of
PM20 and M significantly reduced ST at 10 cm depth compared to 3.10. Effect of poultry manure and mulch application on water use
plots without M at 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12 and13 WAP. However, at 13 WAP, efficiency of okra
the application of PM20 without M had the highest ST (37.9  C) at
10 cm depth while at 7 WAP the PM20 application with mulch had A significantly high water use efficiency of okra was recorded
the lowest ST (28.8  C). Application of PM and M did not signifi- under mulched compared with unmulched plots (Fig. 8). Reports
cantly influence ST at 1 and 2 WAP of the second season while the have shown that mulching reduced evapotranspiration and
combination of PM and M significantly decreased the ST at 3 to 13 increased WUE in many crops (Brust, 2000), sorghum (El-
WAP. Reduction of soil temperature by up to 20  C and creation of Samnoudi et al., 2019; El-Mageed et al., 2018) and potato (Zhang
slow evaporation from the soil surface by vegetative mulch have et al., 2017). A significantly high water use efficiency of okra was
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M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

Table 5
Interactive effect of poultry manure and mulching on soil temperature at 10 cm depth.

Weeks After Planting

Mulch (t ha
1) PM (t ha
1) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2016
0 0 31.5 30.49 33.11 32.47 34.28 32.54 29.0s6 34.24 31.32 30.27 31.66 35.16 37.01
10 31.41 30.63 33.32 33.06 34.13 32.5 29.06 33.73 32.08 30.61 31.67 34.34 34.6
20 31.92 30.63 34.81 33.4 34.72 32.36 29.2 34.47 31.7 30.39 31.5 36.16 37.92
6 0 30.72 30.12 31.98 31.8 28.97 31.99 28.91 31.87 31.7 30.21 30.97 32.74 34.56
10 30.97 29.84 31.07 31.69 32.37 32.64 29.26 32.47 32.03 29.87 31.6 33.38 35.67
20 30.54 29.94 30.38 30.66 32.07 31.3 28.76 32.09 30.27 29.84 30.42 30.83 31.8
Lsd (P < 0.05) 1.198 ns 3.706 2.724 4.236 ns 0.3941 2.044 ns ns ns 5.685 5.266
2017
0 0 34.71 35.93 36.97 38.19 37.58 39.42 36.92 33.94 36.43 33.87 34.27 35.76 35.08
10 34.19 35.07 35.96 38.14 37.2 39.34 36.26 33.61 35.92 33.67 33.72 35.67 34.53
20 34.62 35.54 36.17 37.59 37.23 39.08 36.39 33.68 36.12 33.64 33.68 35.67 35.03
6 0 34.21 35.49 34.3 35.54 34.37 34.47 31.98 31.8 32.64 32.39 32.27 32.79 31.83
10 34.22 34.93 34.58 35.51 34.14 34.01 31,94 31.72 33.16 32.21 31.42 32.8 31.94
20 34.11 35.03 33.79 34.91 33.97 33.32 32.27 31.49 32.56 31.76 31.81 32.48 31.69
LSD (P  0.05) ns ns 0.84 1.46 0.59 1.35 0.81 0.53 0.85 1.11 0.91 0.8 2.03

PM¼ Poultry manure.

Fig. 8. Effect of mulching on water use efficiency of okra.

WUE - water use efficiency.
Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

Fig. 9. Effect of different rates of poultry manure application on water use efficiency of okra.
WUE - water use efficiency; Vertical bars on each point represent LSD bars.

also observed in plots where 20 t ha
1 PM was applied compared 14% and 21% compared with lower PM rate (24 t ha
1) and the
with 10 t ha
1 PM and the control (Fig. 9). In a similar study at El control respectively. The reason for improved WUE by M and PM
Fayoum province in Egypt, El-Samnoudi et al. (2019) found that may be attributed to reduction in soil water loss (Su et al., 2009)
application of higher rate of PM (36 t ha
1) increased WUE by about because this will increase the water available for plat uptake and

390
M.A. Busari, G.O. Bankole, I.A. Adiamo et al. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 11 (2023) 382e392

water reaching the plant tissues to be converted into the yield per grain sorghum genotypes (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) under drought stress.
Australian Journal of Crop Science, 4(3), 185e189.
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He, H., Aogu, K., Li, M., Xu, J., Sheng, W., Gonza
lez-Teruel, J. D., Robinson, D. A.,
None. Horton, R., Bristowi, B., Dyck, M., Filipovi
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