The two important types of manure being used by farmers are cattle manure and poultry manure. Cattle manure is popular in the savanna ecosystems where cattle raising are predominant. Poultry manure is popular in the forest zones where there are large commercial poultry farms.
TABLE 28
Nutrient content of cattle manure, kraal and
field
|
Source of cattle manure |
Nutrient content (%) |
||
|
N |
P2O5 |
K2O |
|
|
Kraal |
1.41 |
0.39 |
2.0 |
|
Field |
1.17 |
0.38 |
2.0 |
Source: SRI - CSIR, 1999.
TABLE 29
Nutrient content of cattle manure, Upper East
Region (Sudan Savannah Zone)
|
Region |
Nutrient content (%) |
||
|
N |
P2O5 |
K2O |
|
|
Bawku East |
1.45 |
0.40 |
3.3 |
|
Bawku West |
1.12 |
0.28 |
1.7 |
|
Bolgatanga |
1.30 |
0.30 |
2.0 |
|
Bongo |
1.53 |
0.40 |
1.2 |
|
Kasena-Nankana |
1.32 |
0.30 |
2.5 |
|
Builsa |
1.33 |
0.30 |
1.3 |
|
Mean |
1.34 |
0.33 |
2.0 |
|
CV (%) |
28 |
29 |
23 |
Source: SRI - CSIR, 1999.
In the savanna areas, cattle manure may be collected either from kraals where the animals are housed during the night or from animal droppings in the field. The nutrient contents of cattle manure collected from these two sources are given in Table 28. The nitrogen content of cattle manure from kraals is slightly higher than that collected from fields due to volatilization of N during exposure. However phosphorus and potassium contents are the same for the manure from the kraals and the field.
The nitrogen content of cattle manure collected in kraals from six districts in the Sudan Savannah Zone (Upper East Region) ranges between 1.12 percent and 1.53 percent, with a mean value of 1.34 percent, while the phosphorus content ranges between 0.28 percent and 0.40 percent with the mean value of 0.33 percent. The potassium content ranges between 1.2 percent and 3.3 percent, with a mean value of 2.0 percent (Table 29).
TABLE 30
Nutrient content of manures, poultry, cattle
and sheep
|
Manure |
Average nutrient content (percent by weight) |
||||
|
N |
P2O5 |
K2O |
CaO |
MgO |
|
|
Poultry |
2.20 |
1.80 |
1.10 |
2.40 |
0.70 |
|
Cattle |
1.20 |
0.17 |
0.11 |
0.35 |
0.13 |
|
Sheep |
1.55 |
0.31 |
0.15 |
0.46 |
0.15 |
Source: SRI - CSIR, 1997.
Poultry manure comprises the dropping of chickens and wood-shaving litter. After some time, the wood-shavings with the chicken droppings are removed from the pen and allowed to decompose before being applied to the soil. The nutrient contents of poultry manure, cattle manure and sheep manure are given in Table 30. These relate to the Ashanti region of the Semi-deciduous Forest Zone. Of the three sources of manure, poultry manure contains the highest content of nutrients (Table 30). This is to be expected in view of the high protein content of poultry feed.
Table 31 indicates that cowpea responds positively to poultry manure as well as to cattle manure in the Transition Zone and Sudan Savannah Zone respectively. However, in the Sudan Savannah Zone, the highest rate of cattle manure (10 tonnes/ha) slightly depressed the yield of cowpea compared with the rate of 5 tonnes/ha.
TABLE 31
Response of cowpea to manure
|
Source of manure |
Application rate |
Yield |
|
(tonnes/ha) |
(tonnes/ha) |
|
|
Poultry manure |
0 |
1.36 |
|
2 |
1.61 |
|
|
4 |
1.79 |
|
|
6 |
1.88 |
|
|
Cattle manure |
0 |
1.32 |
|
2.5 |
1.47 |
|
|
5 |
1.61 |
|
|
10 |
1.59 |
Source: Adapted from the 1997 Annual Report, SRI - CSIR.
In the Transition Zone, there was consistent increase in the yield of cowpea with increasing rates of poultry manure. In the Forest Zone, poultry manure is commonly used in the peri-urban vegetable production.
In the Guinea and Sudan Savannah Zones, cattle manure is commonly applied to crops grown in the compound farms. Vegetables, early millet and sorghum are usually grown in these compound farms. Since the use of manure by farmers is sporadic, it is difficult to quantify the amount used by farmers in Ghana.
