OPTIMIZED INORGANIC FERTILIZER APPLICATION ON SORGHUM YIELD AND NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCIES IN THE NIGERIAN SAVANNA
OPTIMIZED INORGANIC FERTILIZER APPLICATION ON SORGHUM YIELD AND NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCIES IN THE NIGERIAN SAVANNA
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2017-11
Authors
BAKODO, Raymond Pwanogoshin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Sorghum (sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important staple food grain that is
grown among smallholder farmers. The yield is low due to inherent low soil fertility
because resource poor farmers apply little to no fertilizer to their land due to economic
and social factors. The objective of the study was to provide recommendations for
optimizing yield and profit from fertilizer use for financially constrained and
smallholder sorghum farmers. The treatments consisted of five levels of inorganic N
fertilizer (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg N ha-1), four levels of inorganic P fertilizer (0, 7.5,
15 and 22.5 kg P ha-1) and four levels of inorganic K fertilizer (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg K
ha-1) and with some diagnostic nutrients. The experiments were laid out in a
randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times on-station and
fifteen times on-farm. The experiment was carried out in 2015 on smallholder farms in
Unguwar Chida, (Zamfara state), Zarewa (Kano state) and IAR experimental farm at
Samaru, Kaduna state of Nigerian northern Guinea savanna.Result showed that
application of 60 kg N ha-1,15 kg P ha-1 and 10 kg K ha-1 gave the highest grain yield
(2567.3 kg ha-1) at Samaru, 120 kg N ha-1 and 22.5 kg P ha-1 had the highest grain yield
(2432.1 kg ha-1) at Unguwar Chida, and 30 kg N ha-1 and 15 kg P ha-1 obtained highest
grain yield (2181.6 kg ha-1) at Zarewa. The economically optimal nitrogen rate (EONR)
means were 52 to 34 kg N ha-1 in Unguwar Chida, 45 to 26 kg N ha-1 in Zarewa and 40
to 2 kg N ha-1 at Samaru with the fertilizer cost to grain price ratios (CPs) of 2 to 6
across the locations. Mean economically optimal phosphorus rate (EOPR) were 21 to
10 kg P ha-1 at Unguwar Chida, 20 to 14 kg P ha-1 and 7 to 5 kg P ha-1 in Samaru.
Agronomic use efficiency decreased with increasing nitrogen rates and were 11.50,
31.10 and 10.08 kg kg-1 respectively at EONR. Partial factor productivity decreased
with increasing nitrogen rate and were 57.91, 65.95 and 61.19 kg ha-1, respectively at
EONR. The optimized fertilizer recommendation per hectare for the sites studied were
78 kg N and16 kg P at Unguwar Chida, 51 kg N and 49 kg P, at Zarewa, and 72 kg N,
23 kg P at Samaru. The use of inorganic fertilizer by smallholder farmers in these
regions based on this study was very profitable. Therefore, favourable formulated
fertilizers blends and policies that will make available straight fertilizers and these
blends available to smallholder farmer should be developed.
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER DEGREE IN SOIL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
OPTIMIZED,, INORGANIC FERTILIZER,, APPLICATION ON SORGHUM,, YIELD,, NITROGEN,, EFFICIENCIES,, NIGERIAN SAVANNA