EFFECT OF CRUDE OIL CONTAMINATION ON THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL AND ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) IN OMUMA, ORU-EAST L.G.A, IMO STATE

Soil sample from the Students' Teaching and Research farm of the Agricultural Technology Department in Imo State Polytechnic were filled in black polybags of 25m x 45cm with perforation underneath, each bag containing approximately 2.0kg. A completely Randomized Design (CRD with four treatments replicated six times. The soils were contaminated with crude oil as follows: T₁ = zero treatment (control), T2 = 150ml/bag; T3 300ml/bag and T₁ = 450ml/bag. Improved variety of maize (OBA SUPER 4) seeds were sown 3 seeds per bag to be thinned down to 2. The maize did not germinate in treatments 2,3 & 4 respectively. At the end of the experimental period of three months (90 days), the soil samples of the different treatments were collected, bulked and analysed in the laboratory. The results show that soil pH (T1 5.62T4 4.06) was reduced by the crude oil addition (from 5.62 control to 3.05 T4). Bulk density increased with crude oil volume (1.261. 44 g/cm³), CEC was increased in all the parameters with increase in treatment value in relation to the control. Thus, crude oil generally increases the potential fertility of the soil but inhibits plants growth with its attendant decrease in pH which tends to be suffocative to most living organisms. Hence remediative measures have to be adopted if pollution of such occurs.