Effect of chicken manure application and plant deleafing on soil characteristics and dwarf plantain (Musa AAB) production

Plantains are produced in the mountainous region of Puerto Rico and are grown in highly weathered soils of low fertility and high degradation potential. Alternatives to mitigate soil degradation include the application of chicken manure and the placement of deleafed sigatoka-infected leaves on top of the soil (deleafing). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of chicken manure and deleafing on soil properties and plantain productivity. The experiment was conducted in a Dagüey soil series at the Agricultural Experiment Substation in Corozal, Puerto Rico. The treatments were: 1) 25 ton/ha chicken manure; 2) deleafing; 3) chicken manure + deleafing; and 4) control. Chicken manure was applied before planting, and leaves from deleafing were placed on the soil only in deleafing treatments. The application of chicken manure significantly increased soil aggregate stability, soil available phosphorous and nitrates. Also, plant growth and plantain yield increased with manure applications, and the days to flowering and harvest were reduced. There were no effects neither on soil bulk density, hydraulic conductivity nor on organic matter content. No significant difference in runoff volume was observed, but sediment load in runoff decreased. The deleafed leaves decreased soil penetration resistance.