Effects Of Palm Oil Mill Effluents (Pome) On Soil Bacterial Flora And Enzyme Activities In Egbama

Sandy loam soil in Egbema, Rivers State was impacted with POME at different levels and analyzed for bacteriological quality and soil enzyme activities. Light application caused significant increase in total heterotrophic, phosphate solibilizing, nitrifying and lipolytic bacterial counts while heavy application caused a decrease in all of them. The most affected were the nitrifying bacteria followed by phosphate solibilizing bacteria while the least was the heterotrophic bacteria, urease, lipase, dehydrogenase, phenol oxidese, and alkaline and acid phoshatase activities increased considerably in the lightly impacted soil but were reduced significant in the heavily impacted soil. Least affected enzyme was the alkaline phosphatase and the most effected was dehydrogenase. The increases in both bacterial flora and enzymatic activities observed in lightly impacted soil were above the values for the control soil. Moderate application of POME caused a decrease in nitrifying bacterial count and dehydrogenase, acid phostphotase and oxidase activities. Results obtained suggest that light application of POME could be good for agriculture since soil fertility is enhanced, by enhancing microbial activities. Keywords: Bacterial flora, Soil, Enzyme activities, POME effectsPlant Product Research Journal Vol. 12 2008: pp. 10-1