Effect of Trichoderma Inoculated Organic Manure on Water Retention Characteristics of Two Texturally Contrasting Soils in Nsukka, Southeastern, Nigeria

The effect of Trichoderma inoculated organic manure on water retention charac- teristics of two texturally contrasting soils was investigated in the glasshouse of the Department of Soil Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The study in- volved two texturally contrasting soils, sandy loam (SL) and loamy sand (LS) amended with poultry manure (PM) at three rates (10 t/ha, 20 t/ha and 30 t/ha) and inoculated with Trichoderma at two rates (0 and 10 millilitres) per 4 kg of potted soil. The soil-poultry manure-Trichoderma mixture was watered to field capacity, tied in a black polythene bag and incubated for 30, 60 and 90 days re- spectively. Soil samples were collected and analyzed to ascertain how the treat- ments influ- enced the soil water retention characteristics (SWRC) and plant avail- able water capacity (PAWC) of the soils. The data obtained were analyzed using GENSTAT. Significant (p