Growth, Yield and Quality of Cassava as Influenced by Terramend 21, Poultry Manure and Inorganic Fertilizer.
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Date
April, 2009
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Abstract
The effects of Terramend 21(TM 21), poultry manure and inorganic fertilizer on the growth, yield and quality (cooking and starch) of two cassava varieties were studied at the Plantation section of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. The experimental design was a split-plot with four replications. The main plots consisted of the two cassava varieties (Nkabom and IFAD), while the five soil amendments were assigned to the sub-plots. The five soil amendments were: Terramend 21 at the rate of 250ml/ha, NPK applied at the rate of 60 – 40 – 40 kg/ha, TM21 at the rate of 250ml/ha + NPK at 30-20-20kg/ha, poultry manure at the rate of 4t/ha and no soil amendment as the control. TM 21 is a biostimulant and soil rejuvenator.
The response variables were: plant height, fresh shoot weight, number of tubers/plant, tuber mean weight, tuber dry matter, tuber yield, harvest index, cooking quality and starch content. Normal husbandry practices such as weed control and application of soil amendments were under-taken and harvesting was done at 12 months after planning.
Results showed the presence of micro-organisms in all the treatments. Fertilizer treatment gave the highest number of colonies (35) and fertilizer with TM 21 gave the lowest value (13). Terramend 21 treatment did not contain Aspergillus niger and Fusarium sp, but contained the highest number of unidentified microorganism colonies. Plant height increased steadily from three months after planting (MAP) to 10 (MAP) for the two varieties. IFAD recorded greater height than Nkabom at all the sampling periods except at 3 (MAP). Fresh shoot weight was significantly different between the varieties and the soil amendments. There was a significant interaction (P< 0.05) between the varieties and soil amendments in tuber yield. The highest tuber yield (46.9t/ha) was produced by a combination of TM21 and Fertilizer application in Nkabom. Poultry manure produced the highest yield of 46.8t/ha in IFAD. The harvest index did not differ between the two varieties but was significant (P<0.05) with soil amendment application. Results showed no significant interaction between the varieties and the soil amendments in dry matter content. Starch content ranged from 25.1 % to 25.7% in Nkabom and 24.2% to 26.9% for IFAD, and was not significantly different between the two varieties. No significant effect (P>0.05) was observed in tuber cooking quality between the varieties and soil amendments. The results showed a positive correlation between tuber dry matter and starch content, tuber mean weight and tuber yield, tuber dry matter content and tuber yield. A negative correlation existed between number of tubers/plant and tuber mean weight. Cassava producers should use soil amendment application to increase cassava tuber yields. The results have also shown that the mealiness of cassava tubers is not negatively affected by the application of soil amendments in the production of cassava.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of the Master of Agronomy degree.