EFFECT OF SOIL COMPACTION ON THE GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE OF CITRUS SEEDLINGS

Abstract

Soil compaction modifies pore space, aeration, water movement and root penetration and can affect plant establishment. This study evaluated the response of citrus seedlings to five mechanically imposed soil-compaction levels under controlled conditions at the Agricultural Engineering Department Farm, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Loamy soil was subjected to an uncompacted control (T₀) and 5, 10, 15 and 20 rammer blows (T₁–T₄), corresponding to applied pressures of 203.75, 407.50, 611.25 and 815.00 kN m⁻², respectively. The experiment used a Completely Randomized Design with 10 replicates per treatment. Initial soil moisture content, bulk density and compaction energy were determined, while plant height, leaf length, total leaf number and leaf drop were measured at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after transplanting. Initial soil moisture content was 4.58%, bulk density was 0.75 g cm⁻³ and calculated compaction energy was 52.98 Nm. At 10 weeks, leaf length, total leaves, plant height and leaf drop ranged from 2.9–3.4 cm, 12.5–13.7, 19.0–24.0 cm and 0.0–0.6 leaves, respectively. T₃ recorded the highest leaf length, T₃ and T₄ the highest leaf number, while T₄ recorded the greatest plant height. Responses were therefore parameter-dependent rather than consistently related to compaction intensity. Further studies should include post-compaction soil properties, root development and biomass.