COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IMPACT OF SOIL MIXTURE ON GROWTH AND SEEDLING QUALITY OF SELECTED AGROFORESTRY TREE SPECIES

Abstract

In the study area, there was problem of seedling quality because of degraded local soil fertility and competing interest for manure from vegetable, fruit, coffee and kahat producers. The study was focused on determining the most suitable soil amendment for germination and early seedling growth of selected indigenous multipurpose agroforestry tree species. Seedlings were raised in polythene tubes having 10cm diameter and 15cm height and the experimental plots were laid out with eight treatments and three replications. The morphological attributes of seedlings such as shoot and root height, root collar diameter, estimated leaf area and actual leaf area were measured for assessment of tree seedlings vigor and robustness. Analysis of variance indicated the shoot height of Cordia africana, Fiadherbia albida and Mellitia ferruginea were significantly different at (P<0.05) whereas shoot height of Moringa stenopetala was highly significant at (P<0.01). Actual leaf area(cm2 ) of Fiadherbia albida and Moringa stenopetala were significantly different at(P<0.05) and estimated leaf area(cm2 ) of the four species were highly significant at (P<0.01).Treatment8(3A: 2M: 1S:) for Cordia africana, treatment 5 (3A: 2M: 1S: 23U) for Fiadherbia albida and treatment 2(2A: 2M: 2S: 25D) for both Moringa stenopetala and Mellitia ferruginea exhibited the lowest sturdiness quotient, which indicates that they are good quality seedling for plantation.Shoot height indicated positive correlation with most seedling growth parameter but root collar diameter and Sturdiness quotient showed negative correlation for all species. Treatment 3 (3A: 2M: 1S: 23U) is recommended as the best soilmix compared to other treatments, however it needs further study. The current study can be taken as an option to solve problems related to nursery pot soilmix quality.