ABSTRACT:

Increasing demand for food crop production for the ever-rising human population still remains a challenge of modern agriculture. However, application of phosphorous (P) fertilizer remains one of the soil management practices to increase soil available Phosphorous for efficient crop growth and yield.The aim of this study was to assess the effects of rates of phosphorus fertilizer application on soil physico-chemical properties and growth of maize on soils formed from diverse parent materials in Akwa Ibom state. To achievethis, soils formed from Coastal plain sand (CPS) from Obio Akpa in Oruk Anam, LGA, Alluvium (ALL) from Uta Ewa in Ikot Abasi LGA and Beach ridge sand (BRS) from Ayadehe in Itu LGA were sampled at 0-20cm depth. The experiment was a 3×4 factorial fitted into a completely randomized design (CRD) with four treatments of P fertilizer (0, 0.14mg/kg, 0.28mg/kg and 0.42mg/kg) replicated three times. Data were collected on soil properties before and after experiment.Plant data were collected at 2, 4 and 6 weeks to assess the influence of P on the growth parameters (plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and stem girth). Results indicated that P fertilizer application at 0.42mg/kg improves soil pH, organic matter and available P when compared with the control. Results on the growth parameters shows that P fertilizer application at 0.42mg/kg significantly (p < 0.05) increased plant height, numbers of leaves, leaf area and stem growth when compared to control among the treatments and parent materials. It is therefore recommended that 0.42mg/kg of phosphorus fertilizer should be applied on soils of the study area for improve maize production.