Studies on soil nitrogen in relation to bacterial microflora in soil samples from agricultural farmland in Naraguta, Plateau State
1 Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria.
3 National Biosafety Management Agency Abuja, Nigeria.
4 Department of Biology, College of Education, Akwanga, Nigeria.
Research Article
International Journal of Scientific Research Updates, 2021, 01(01), 011–015.
Article DOI: 10.53430/ijsru.2021.1.1.0013
Publication history:
Received on 13 March 2021; revised on 15 April 2021; accepted on 18 April 2021
Abstract:
A study was conducted to determine the relationship between soil bacterial microfloral and organic Nitrogen content including soil pH. Two study agricultural farmlands were chosen. Ten soil samples were collected from each of the two agricultural farmlands and analysed quantitatively for total bacteria and soil nitrogen content. Total bacteria count was determined using the standard plate count while soil nitrogen content was determined using Kjeldahl method. Bacterial count ranged from 3.5 x 106 to 10.0 x 106 cfu/g in site -1 while in site -2, the bacterial counts ranges from 4.5 x 106 to 13.0 x 106 cfu/g. The corresponding soil nitrogen for site 1 and 2 was 0.30 - 0.50 mgkg-1 and 0.50 - 0.71 mgkg-1 respectively. Bacterial count was found to be directly proportional to soil nitrogen. The dominant bacteria identified in order of significance were; Bacillus spp (23.0%) >Klebsiella spp (21.3%) >Pseudomonas spp (16.3%) >Azotobacter spp. (13.3%) > S. aureus (11.3%) >E. coli (7.5%) >Streptococcus spp (6.6%). The pH for both sites ranged between 6.0-7.6. Correlation analysis was determined between the soil bacterial load and organic nitrogen. There was positive correlation between soil nitrogen and the corresponding bacterial load even though it was not statistically significant (P>0.05). It can be concluded that there is a relationship between soil bacterial micro flora and nitrogen content and this can be used as an index of soil health and fertility.
Keywords:
Bacteria; Nitrogen; Soil fertility; Agriculture; soil samples
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