The Role of Organic Soil Amendments on Soil Physical Properties and Yield of Maize (Zea maysL.)

The objective of this study is to examine the role of some organic (composted tobacco waste, CTW; bio-humus, BH; chicken manure, CM) soil amendments on soil physical properties and yield of maize. A 3-year field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Farm of Ege University in Menemen, Izmir, Turkey from 2009 to 2011. The treatments, (1) control, (2) 4 t/ha CM+NPK, (3) 50 t/ha CTW, (4) 10 t/ha BH+NPK, were arranged in complete randomized block design with four treatment replications. Both of BH (composted plant residues) and CM were obtained from organic manure industry. Tobacco wastes were gathered from the cigarette industry and applied to maize (Zea mays L.) after composting period with the other amendments. During the experiment, two soil samples were collected in three different periods (3 June 2009–23 October 2009; 1 June 2010–5 November 2010; 13 July 2011–21 October 2011). The effects of CM, BH, and CTW on physical properties of the soil and yield were investigated. According to our results, all organic amendments increased porosity, structure stability index, field capacity, wilting point, and available water amount and decreased bulk density and particle density of soil when compared to the control. We additionally determined that these organic amendments positively affected grain yield.