Response of two accessions of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) to poultry manure rates at the nursery stage and early growth under field conditions

Abstract

Nursery experiment is meant to predict field performance of crops. Nursery and field experiments were conducted at the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka to determine the repsonse of two accessions of Baobab sourced from Odo-Ere and Okolok, Kogi State, Nigeria to six poultry manure (PM) rates (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 t ha^-1) in the nursery and three PM rates (0, 15, and 30 t ha^-1) in the field, as factorial experiments in completely randomized design (CRD) and randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six and three replicates, respectively. Data were collected on plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, number of branches both in the nursey and field while data on number of bifurcated leaves was recorded only in the nursery. Analysis of variance showed existence of variation between the two accessions of Baobab with respect to some growth attributes. Notably, Odo-Ere accession gave higher number of leaves (29.8 and 101.9), thicker stem (5.9 and 7.0 cm) at 2 MAT in both experiments and more bifurcated leaves at 2, 3, 4 and 5 months in the nursery with respective values of 1.6, 3.5, 4.1 and 4.7. Application of PM significantly enhanced growth of Baobab in both experiments. In the nursey, application of 50 t ha^-1 of PM increased plant height (95.3 cm), number of leaves (97.2), number of bifurcated leaves (95.7), stem diameter (10.8 cm) and number of branches (8.1) at 7 months. Field evaluation revealed that PM rate beyond 15 t ha^-1 had inverse effects on Baobab growth. Accession x PM interaction was not significant. A near-linear response pattern of the two accessions to PM in the nursery and in the field suggest the superlative impact that external nutrient input could have on the Baobab plant.