Growth response and yield of celosia argentea linn. to different levels of maize residues as soil amendments in a pot culture.
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Date
2015
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Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This study determined the effects of raw maize cobs and maize stovers as organic materials on the growth performance of Celosia argentea and assessed the effects of these materials on the soil physical and chemical properties. The study also compared the efficiencies of maize cob and maize stover organic materials on the growth and yield of C. argentea. This was with a view to assessing the effect of these maize residues on the productivity and quality of C. argentea.
The experiment was conducted in the screenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. There were five treatments (100% maize cob, 100% maize stover, 25% maize cob + 75% maize stover, 50% maize cob + 50% maize stover, and 75% maize cob + 25% maize stover) and five different fertility management levels (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 t ha-1) of the maize residues. The set-up was replicated three times to give a total of 75 pots, arranged in a completely randomised design; each pot contained three kilogrammes of exhaustively cropped and sieved top soil. The maize residues were applied and allowed to undergo incubation for a period of four weeks. Seeds of C. argentea obtained from National Horticultural Research Institute, Jericho, Ibadan were sown and thinned to three stands per pot at two weeks after sowing (WAS). The C. argentea plants were watered every two days till harvesting. The number of leaves, plant height, stem girth and leaf area were also measured weekly, till eight weeks after sowing when the vegetable stands were harvested. Fresh weight of the harvested vegetable per pot was determined using a top-loading weighing scale. A repeat experiment was carried out to determine the residual effects of the applied treatments. The pre- and post-cropping analyses of the soils were carried out to determine their physico-chemical properties using standard methods. The harvested C. argentea plants were oven-dried at 70°C to constant weights to determine their proximate and nutrient compositions using standard methods. Results were analysed using GraphPad Prism 5.0 statistical software.
At 3 WAS, mean plant height ranged from 2.47 ± 0.84 cm to 5.73 ± 1.16 cm; mean stem girth from 0.33 ± 0.03 cm to 0.83 ± 0.10 cm; mean number of leaves from 2 ± 0 to 7 ± 1; and mean leaf area from 0.31 ± 0.11 cm2 to 4.05 ± 1.74 cm2 in the first sowing. This trend increased with the age of the plants. The highest mean yield of 27.81 gobtained with 6 t ha-1 of 25% maize coband 75% maize stover was not significantly (F 16, 74 = 15.78; p < 0.05) different from 25.61 g obtained with 3 t ha-1 of 100% maize stover. All the soil properties such as organic carbon, total nitrogen, available P, potassium, exchangeable acidity, exchangeable bases, and soil micronutrients were enhanced by the various soil amendments. Proximate analysis showed that there were no significant differences in values obtained for crude fibre and carbohydrate when the treatments were compared. In the repeat experiment, the mean yield of C. argentea at 3 t ha-1 was significantly (F 16, 74 = 147.20; p < 0.05) higher than all other levels of application. Also, maize stover was more efficient as soil amendment than maize cob.
The study concluded that the use of 100% maize stover at 3 t ha-1 as soil amendment had superior and positive influence on the soil physico-chemical properties and productivity of C. argentea than using either maize cob or maize cob and maize stover in equal proportion.
Description
xiv,148p
Keywords
Celosia argentea linn, Pot culture, Physico-chemical, Organic materials, Maize stovers, Raw maize cobs, Maize, Maize residues, Soil amendment
Citation
Adekanmbi, A.E. (2015). Growth response and yield of celosia argentea linn. to different levels of maize residues as soil amendments in a pot culture. Obafemi Awolowo University