Decomposition in the soil, of different botanical fractions of maize stover, treated with urine and/or urea

Methu, J.N.; Tanner, J.C.; Owen, E.; Lekasi, J.K.

Decomposition in the soil, of different botanical fractions of maize stover, treated with urine and/or urea

Autores

Editor

British Society of Animal Science

Descripción

Treatment of low quality roughaghes such as maize stover with urea to increase feeding value for livestock is a widely tested technology in the tropics. However, the high cost of treatment has led to little uptake by farmers, for fodder improvement. This experiment investigated wheather urea treatment could also increase the rate of decomposition of stover in soils and thus increase nutrient turnover in smallholdings. The experiment also looked at rates of decomposition of different botanical components of maize stover, bearing in mind that refusals from a high offer rate feeding strategy one likely to be dominanted by stem.