Effects of Lime, Vermicompost, and Chemical P Fertilizer on Selected Properties of Acid Soils of Ebantu District, Western Highlands of Ethiopia

Table 3

Effects of the treatments on pH, exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al, and percent acid saturation of soil in the incubation study.

Treatment	Rate	pH	Ex. Ac	Ex. Al	AS
			cmolc·kg^−1		%
Control	0	4.83^j	2.38^a	1.70^a	30^a
Lime (tons·ha^−1)	2	5.20^f–i	2.13^bc	1.28^c	23^c
	4	5.44^c–f	1.15^gh	1.12^e	12^g
	6	6.01^a	0.17^l	0.33^j	1.62^j
Mineral P (kg·ha^−1)	20	5.17^ghi	2.36^a	1.70^a	27^b
	40	4.97^hij	2.34^a	1.71^a	30^a
	60	4.95^ij	2.38^a	1.71^a	30^a
VC (tons·ha^−1)	2.5	5.18^ghi	2.18^b	1.63^b	20^d
	5.0	5.19^f–i	2.05^cd	1.57^b	17^e
	7.5	5.46^cde	1.99^d	1.31^c	16^ef
Chemical P (kg·ha^−1) + lime (4 tons·ha^−1)	20	5.47^cde	1.18^g	1.14^e	12^g
	40	5.48^cde	1.16^g	1.14^e	12^g
	60	5.52^cd	1.13^ghi	1.10^ef	12^g
VC (tons·ha^−1) + lime (4 tons·ha^−1)	2.5	5.62^bc	1.11^ghi	1.04^fg	9^h
	5.0	5.98^a	1.00^j	0.80^i	8^h
	7.5	6.05^a	0.45^k	0.09^k	3.3^i
Chemical P (kg·ha^−1) + VC (5 tons·ha^−1)	20	5.24^efg	2.04^d	1.59^b	17^e
	40	5.23^e–h	2.07^cd	1.57^b	17^e
	60	5.67^bc	1.71^f	1.22^d	14^f
Chemical P (20 kg·ha^−1) + lime (4 tons·ha^−1) + VC (5 tons·ha^−1)	—	5.94^a	1.04^ij	0.96^h	8^h
Chemical P (40 kg·ha^−1) + lime (4 tons·ha^−1) + VC (5 tons·ha^−1)	—	6.00^a	1.07^hij	0.95^h	8^h
Chemical P (60 kg·ha^−1) + lime (2 tons·ha^−1) + VC (7.5 tons·ha^−1)	—	5.86^ab	1.13^ghi	0.96^h	9^h
Chemical P (20 kg·ha^−1) + lime (4 tons·ha^−1) + VC (2.5 tons·ha^−1)	—	5.50^cd	1.13^ghi	1.03^g	9^h
Chemical P (40 kg·ha^−1) + lime (2 tons·ha^−1) + VC (5 tons·ha^−1)	—	5.32^d–g	1.90^e	1.16^de	15^ef
F–test	—
CV (%)	—	2.03	2.51	2.55	5.14

Means followed by the same letter within a column are not significantly different at ; significant at using Duncan’s multiple range test; Ex. Ac, exchangeable acidity; Ex. Al, exchangeable aluminium; AS, acid saturation; chemical P, chemical phosphorus; VC, vermicompost; CV, coefficient of variation.