The Efficiency of Mehlich-3 Extractant in Extracting Exchangeable Bases on Ferralitic Soils of Delta State, Nigeria

A study was carried out in ferralitic soils, Delta State, Nigeria. The aim was to assess the efficiency of Mehlich-3 extractant in extracting exchangeable soil nutrient cations of Ca++, Mg++, K+ and Na+. Four locations namely; Ibusa, Ubulu-uku, Obior and Ossissa were sampled for analysis of locations initial physico-chemical properties and extraction of exchangeable bases using Mehlich-3 extractant. The results of the study indicated that the soils were highly acidic and deficient in major nutrients. Extraction of basic cations by Mehlich-3 extractant showed strong affinity in the extraction of calcium (Ca) with mean extracting value of 4.29 mgkg-1 , Magnesium (Mg) 1.32 mgkg-1 , Potassium (K) 0.14 mgkg-1 and low affinity for Sodium (Na+ ) 0.11 mgkg-1 . Correlation coefficient (rvalue) showed highly significant linear relation between Mehlich-3 and Ca++ (r = 0.942**), Mg++ (r = 0.845**) and K+ (r = 0.798**). Non-significant relationship was found between extractant and Na+ (r = 0.242). the general results indicated that Mehlich-3 has strong extracting power in the extraction of calcium (Ca++), Magnesium (Mg++), Potassium (K+ ) and Sodium (Na+ ) in ferralitic soils.