Effects of organic and inorganic nitrogen fertilizers on the growth and yield of two contrasting maize (Zea mays, L)

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1998-02-20
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Two trials were conducted at the Crop Research Institute Stations at Kwadaso and Fumesua, (Kumasi, Ghana) during the 1997 major growing season. The objective was to study the effects of organic (Poultry manure) and inorganic (chemical) fertilizers on the growth and yield of two contrasting maize (Zea mays. L.) varieties, ‘Dorke’ and ‘Obatanpa’. The design of the experiment was a split plot in 4 replications with the varieties as the main plot and fertilizer as the subplots. Crop growth, yield and yield components were assessed. The results indicated that both the shoot dry weight and the crop growth rate increased with the increase in fertilizer rate. Leaf area index (LAI) was low compared to the normal for these varieties of maize (3 - 3.5). However, the normal trend of LAI progression with time was followed and the peak was reached at anthesis and then started to decline. At Fumesua, nitrogen found in the ear leaf varied for the maize varieties. Nitrogen content varied from 1.7% to 2.4% for ‘Obatanpa’ and from 1.7% to 2.4% for ‘Dorke’. At Kwadaso, the highest grain yield was achieved by the application of 4 tons ha’ of poultry manure. The yield from this treatment differed significantly from the rest of the treatments. While the highest grain yield came from the application of 42 kg N ha-1 + 2 tons ha-1 poultry manure, at Fumesua no significant differences among the different fertilizer rates were observed.
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Agronomy, 1998
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