Research Article Open Access

Bacterial and Fungal Assessment of Top Soil Cultivated with Oil Palm Seedlings

Abstract

The fungal and bacterial populations in soil waste dumping site (WDS) and oil palm ecosystem (OPE) cultivated with oil palm seedlings have been studied. The month of April had the highest occurrence with 20.1 x 105 cfu/g from WDS. This was followed by May with 12.8 x 105 cfu/g (WDS), July 10.1 x 105 cfu/g (OPE) and August showed the lowest occurrence with 7.1 x105 cfu/g (OPE). The mean bacterial counts for the month of July recorded the highest occurrence with 8.42 x 103 from OPE. This was followed by May with 5.98 x 103 cfu/g (WDS), April 4.45 x 103 cfu/g (WDS) and August showed the lowest with 1.60 x 103 (OPE). The biochemical tests revealed the occurrence of eleven isolates. The Bacillus subtilis was the most occurred while Flavobacteria devorans was the least occurred. The frequency of occurrence of fungi isolated revealed that Penicillium expansium had the highest occurrence with 11.7%. The least occurrence was Trichoderma polysporum with 1.1%. The high counts of fungi and bacteria obtained in soil from WDS were an indication that the soil was influenced by the degrading matters at the sites. The soil from waste dumping sites best supported high fungal and bacterial populations while soil from oil palm ecosystem less supported the populations.

UDOH ME, Okogbenin OB, Eziashi EI and EE Odigie

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