Abstract
An experiment was carried out to evaluate the influence of seasons on microbial inoculant application on soil properties, growth, and yield of maize. The experiment was conducted between October 2019 – January 2020 and April – July 2020 at Domita Farms, Uyo. The microbial inoculant used were CHC-AGRITECH (Farmers' Friend) at five (5) treatment rates; control (0kgFF/ha), FF1 (1kgFF/ha) applied once, FF2 (1khFF/ha) applied 2 times, FF3 (1kg/ha) applied 3 times, FF4 (1kg/ha) applied 4 times). The chemical properties of the soils were also determined. The result showed that the application of microbial inoculants significantly (p<0.05) increased pH level, available phosphorous, and base saturation for both seasons compared to the control. The result also showed that at 8 weeks of application, the microbial inoculants significantly (p<0.05) increased plant height, number of leaves, and stem girth, and this was recorded at FF4 treated soils for 2019 and 2020 when compared to control. Application of microbial inoculants in soils at FF4 treatment significantly (P<0.05) increased the grain yield of maize and the yield was significantly different for both seasons, values ranged from 4.33 ton/ha in (2019) to 7.28 ton/ha in (2020). It is therefore recommended that a split dosage of FF4 application should be applied in sandy soils to increase maize production.