last final thesis of umer

Moreover, the pH value was 7.71, which is considered as alkaline soils according to Tekalign
(1991). The soil of the experimental site had a proportion of 64% sand, 16% silt, and 20% clay
that lead the soil to be texturally classified as sandy loam (Table 3).
Table 3.Physio-chemical properties of the experimental site before planting.
Soil parameter Unit Value
Total nitrogen % 0.12
Organic carbon % 1.33
Organic matter % 2.29
Available phosphorous ppm 4.21
Cation exchange capacity Cmol (+)/kg 16.99
Soil PH - 7.71
Particle size distribution
Sand % 64
Silt % 16
Clay % 20
4.1.2 Soil analysis after Harvesting
The soil samples from the top soil (20 cm) taken after harvest showed a pH ranges between 7.71
to 7.73 indicating alkaline. The total nitrogen of the soil after harvesting was highly significantly
(p<0.01) affected by population density and cowpea varieties as well as their interaction and
cropping system(Appendix Table 7) .The highest(0.133%) and lowest(0.129%) total nitrogen were
recorded maize intercropped with 100% kenketi variety of cowpea and maize intercropped with
50% bole variety respectively (Table 4).The differences in population densities of cowpea varieties
cause variation in the total nitrogen content among the treatments (Table 4). The higher nitrogen
content was obtained at higher population density of cowpea. This is in agreement with the finding
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