Abstract

Maize is one of the most important staple cereals with a wide geographical spread in terms of production and utilization amongst cereals in Nigeria. This study was carried out at the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology Botanical Garden, in Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt, Nigeria with the aim to evaluate growth performances of maize grown on dumpsite soils. Soil samples were collected from three different locations; Njemanze Dumpsite, Mile One Flyover Dumpsite, Chinda by Iwofe Dumpsite and RSU Botanical Garden (control soil). Hybrid maize seeds were subjected to viability and germination test. Viable seeds of maize were sown into polybags containing the different soils and arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Data collected were subjected to ONE WAY ANOVA analysis. Results showed there were significant differences in plant height with Chinda by Iwofe having taller plants (68.1 cm) than, RSU (Control) (51.9 cm), Mile One Flyover (43.4 cm) and Njemanze (37.8 cm). Number of leaves was also significant with that of Chinda by Iwofe higher (9), RSU (Control) (8) and Mile One Flyover (8) had same leaf number and Njemanze (7) had lowest number of leaves. There were no significant differences in days to tasseling and days to cobbing in the different locations. Growth was positive in all soil treatments; Chinda by Iwofe had high values while Njemanze had the least. There is every indication that dumpsite soils enhances growth of maize showing a variation in the different soil types due to the peculiarity of each dump site waste.