The soil was covered with green
luxuriant vegetation at the time of sampling and was
collected aseptically from a depth of 5 cm – 15 cm after
carefully removing the surface vegetation. The samples
were sieved (mesh size < 2 mm), sorted to remove stones,
plant debris and any visible soil fauna and then
thoroughly mixed with hand trowel. The soil was
allowed to stabilize for 7days by incubating at 27 °C to
permit the disturbance caused by sampling and sieving
to subside (Baath et al., 1998). The pH of the soil used
in the study was 7.23 (Table 1).