Remediation of Soil Contaminated with Petroleum Products Using Poultry Manure for the Growth of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus)

Abstract

A study on remediation of soil contaminated with petroleum products (kerosene, fuel and diesel) for the growth of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) was carried out at Department of Biology, research farm site Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The study was conducted on soil sample collected from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The top soil (0-10cm) was collected from the open field at the Biology research farm site and sieved using a 5mm mesh to remove gravel and debris. The set of soil samples were contaminated with petroleum products to achieve 0 and 5ml pollution each of kerosene, petrol and diesel, of which the concentration were 0% concentration, 50% concentration each of kerosene, petrol and diesel were amended with poultry manure. The experimental design used was Completely Randomized Design (CRD) in four replications. Samples were analyzed at eight weeks after planting using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means were separated by least significant difference (LSD) at 95% confidence interval. The plant growth parameters were affected adversely by the contaminated soil.  The higher the level of pollution, the more the effect. The amendments (poultry manure) were able to remedy the effect of the pollutant. The study showed that soils contaminated with petroleum products had adverse effect on plants growth, in a concentration dependant form but this was remedied by addition of organic nutrient supplements such as poultry waste.