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Mar 30, 2024Keywords:
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Evaluation of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers for Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato Production under Humid Tropical Conditions of South East Nigeria
Abstract
Sweetpotato, especially the orange-fleshed type, is an important crop that is now receiving greater attention in Nigeria. This has generated demand for information on management practices such as fertilization aimed at optimizing growth and yield under local smallholder conditions. Given this, a field study was conducted in a humid tropical ultisol at Umudike, south-eastern Nigeria to evaluate organic and inorganic fertilizer application on the growth and yield of three orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties. The experiment was laid in a 5 x 3 factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The organic and inorganic fertilizer rates were zero application, 4t/ha poultry manure, 4t/ha cow dung, a combination of poultry manure and cow dung at 2t/ha each, and 400kg/ha NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer; while the sweetpotato varieties were Umuspo 1, Umuspo 3 and Umuspo 4. The result showed that, in both the year 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons, the application of poultry manure alone at 4t/ha produced a significantly greater leaf area index compared to other fertilizer treatments. Organic and inorganic fertilizer application did not significantly (P>0.05) influence storage root yields likely due to the fairly fertile soils used, but the application of poultry manure at 4t/ha gave significantly higher dry matter content of the storage roots than other treatments. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties Umuspo 1 and Umuspo 3 had similar root yields of 11.2t/ha and 13.3t/ha respectively, but significantly higher yields than Umuspo 4 (3.9 t/ha); while shoot biomass was comparable in Umuspo1 and Umuspo 4 but higher than that of Umuspo 3. Interaction effects showed that the highest dry matter content (35.5%) of the storage roots was obtained from Umuspo 1 received 4t/ha poultry manure while the highest carotene content (78.9 ug/g) of storage roots was obtained from Umuspo 3 variety at zero application. Based on financial returns, the highest profit (gross margin) of #3,400 was obtained from the application of poultry manure at 4t/ha on Umuspo 3, followed by Umuspo 1 variety. Overall, the results illustrate the importance of the choice of variety and fertilization in improving sweetpotato productivity and providing higher income to the farmers.
