ABSTRACT
The experiment was carried out in 2019 cropping season at National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, to assess agronomic attributes of sweet potato varieties (Ipomea batatas (L)) under the application of nitrogen fertilizer (urea). A piece of land was cleared and thrash packed. It was slashed, ploughed, harrowed and ridged mechanically with tractor and converted to plots of beds with an Indian hoe manually. The size of each bed measured 1 m x 1.5 m with a space of 0.5 m separating the plots and 1m separating the replicates. Thirty three sweet potato vines each measured 30 cm long and four nodes were planted on each bed at a spacing of 10 cm x 20 cm resulting to plant population density of 500,000 plants /ha. The experiment was laid out as 5 x 2 factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The treatments consisted of two factors, Factor A comprised of five rates of Nitrogen (Urea) fertilizer (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 N kg/ha) whereas factor B consisted of two varieties of oranges fleshed sweetpotao (Umuspo 1 (king) and Umuspo 4 (solo gold). These two factors produced ten (10) treatment combinations replicated thrice to a total of thirty (30) observations. The fertilizer rates were applied to the crops four weeks after planting (WAP). Data were collected on vine length, number of leave, number of branches, yield parameter and weight of above ground biomass (kg) and were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Genstat (2003) edition (windows). Significant difference was determined and means separated with Fisher’s least significant difference (F-LSD) at 0.05 significant level. Results showed that application of Nitrogen (urea) fertilizer and variety significantly (p<0.05) affected the number of branches, vine length, number of leaves, weight of above ground biomass (kg), number of cuttings (vine yield) at different sampling period, while their interactions were non-significant. Umuspo 4 variety produced the highest yield compared to Umuspo 1 variety. Nitrogen fertilizer (urea) application at the rate of 120kg/ha produced the highest number of vine cuttings.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title
Page i
Declaration ii
Certification
iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables viii
Abstract ix
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Objectives
of the Study 2
CHAPTER
2: LITERATURE REVIEW 3
2.1 Origin and Botany of Sweetpotato 3
2.2 Economic
Importance of Sweetpotato 4
2.3 Orange
Fleshed Sweetpotato and Vitamin a Deficiency 5
2.4 Climatic and Soil Requirements of Sweetpotato 9
2.5 Nutrient
Requirements of Sweetpotato 11
2.5.1 Nitrogen 11
2.5.2
Phosphorous 13
2.5.3
Potassium 14
2.6 Sweetpotato
Seed System in Nigeria 16
CHAPTER 3:
MATERIALS AND METHODS 19
3.1 Description
of the Experimental Site 19
3.1.1 Location 19
3.1.2 Climate 19
3.2 Field
Experiment 19
3.2.1 Land preparation 19
3.2.2 Experimental design/treatments. 20
3.2.3 Application of treatments 20
3.2.4 Field maintenance 20
3.3 Data
Collection 20
3.3.1 Growth parameters 20
3.3.2 Yield parameters 25
3.4 Meteorological Information 21
3.5 Soil
Analysis 21
3.6 Statistical
Analysis 21
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
AND DISCUSSIONS 22
4.1 Effect
of Nitrogen Fertilizer (Urea) on the Growth of Orange
Fleshed
Sweetpotato 22
4.1.1 Physico-chemical properties of experimental site 22
4.1.2 Number of branches 25
4.1.3 Vine
length 27
4.1.4 Number of leaves 29
4.1.6 Number
of cuttings (vine yield) 31
4.1.7 Number
of cuttings (vine yield) 33
CHAPTER
5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 35
5.1 Conclusions 35
5.2 Recommendations 35
References
Appendices
LIST OF TABLES
4.1 Physico-chemical
properties of experimental site 23
4.2 Meteorological data
of the study area in 2019 and 2020 cropping seasons 24
4.3 Effect
of different urea rates on the number of branches at 8 and 12WAP 26
4.4 Effect
of different urea rates on vine length of two varieties of orange
fleshed
sweetpotato at 8 and 12 WAP 28
4.5 Effect
of different urea rates on the number of leaves at 8 and 12 WAP 30
4.6 Effect
of different urea rates on the weight of biomass (Kg) at 8 and
12WAP 32
4.7
Effect of different urea rates on
the number of cuttings (Vine yield)
at
8 and 12 WAP 34
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
Sweetpotato, an emerging food security crop in Nigeria, is
produced in almost all the agro ecological zones but predominantly in the
Northern Guinea Savannah where many landraces abound (Afuape et al., 2015). It is mainly consumed
either boiled or
roasted on open fire (Chipungu, 2008). Currently, its
utilization has gone beyond the boil and roast era to commercial processing
into chips, kunnu, fries, bakery products etc, (Afuape
et al, 2015). According to Andreas et al.
(2009) sweetpotato produces food in a relatively short time, gives reliable
yields in sub-optimal growth conditions, requires lower labour inputs
(appropriate for vulnerable households) than other staples, serves as an
alternative food source for urban population and provides an option to reduce
vitamin A deficiency among other health benefits. The
orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties are gaining great attention as a means of
reducing common health related problems in low income communities associated
with vitamin A deficiency (Chipungu et
al., 1999). The varieties are
believed to be the least expensive source of dietary vitamin A available to
poor families and plays a vital role in boosting household
nutrition (Laure et al., 2013). This is due
to their high nutritive value of beta-carotene content, a precursor to vitamin
A synthesis (Ukpabi et al, 2012). The
strategy of increasing orange fleshed sweetpotato consumption helps to
alleviate vitamin A deficiency, which causes night blindness (Anderson et al., 2007).
Despite
the numerous potential uses and benefits of sweetpotato, the production of the
crop is below the potential level due to socioeconomic, biotic and abiotic
factors (Kivuva et al., 2014). It
have been observed that yields realized from farmer’s fields are low due to use
of low yielding varieties, poor agronomic practices, pests and diseases,
drought, lack of capital and destruction of crops by animals etc (Yanggen and
Naguja, 2006). Among all the problems highlighted, timely access to adequate
quantities of quality vines has been cited as one of the major constraints
facing sweetpotato production in sub-Saharan Africa (McGuire and Sterling,
2016; McEwan et al., 2015). Carey et al. (2013) reported that vine
conservation in Nigerian depends on the rainfall pattern, the availability of
irrigation system and the availability of wetlands or river banks. These
factors resulted in the farmers sourcing vines from volunteer sprouts or from
the fields of neighbors and kinfolks and the amount of material available at
the beginning of the rains is limited. Moreover, the recycling of material can
lead to the build-up of pests and diseases and subsequent yield reduction
(McEwan, 2016).
Earlier
studies on field calibration of NPK in relation to sweetpotato production
(Chukwu et al., 2000) focused more
attention on root yield with no attention given to vine production. With the
recent interest in moving sweetpotato seed systems from informal to formal and
increasing demand for the seeds of improved varieties, sweetpotato vine
multipliers are looking for alternative means of generating more planting
materials within a short period of time so as to meet up with the demands of
customers. Nitrogen fertilizer application is one of the quickest means of
increasing the growth of crops. However, there is no information on the effect
of nitrogen on the sweetpotato vine multiplication ratio and hence the need for
this study.
1.1 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The
general objective of this experiment is to study the effect of Nitrogen (Urea)
fertilizer on growth and vine yield of sweetpotato. The specific objectives are
to:
1. Determine
the effect of Nitrogen fertilizer ( Urea ) rates on the growth of two varieties
of sweetpotato
2. Determine
the effect of Nitrogen fertilizer (Urea) rates on the vine and biomass yield of
two varieties of sweetpotato.
3. Determine
the variety with superior growth and higher vine yield.
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