EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS LEVEL AND SOIL TYPE ON THE GROWTH OF CARIBBEAN STYLO (stylosanthes hamata cv. Verano)

No Thumbnail Available
Date
1990-06
Authors
MUSA, ABUBAKAR
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A pot experiment was conducted in a glasshouse at Samaru between June and September, 1989 to i n v e s t i g a t e the e f f e c t s of f i v e phosphorus l e v e l s and three s o i l types c o l l e c t e d from Samaru (Northern Guinea Savanna), Jos (Montane) and Sokoto (Sudan Savanna) on the growth of Caribbean s t y l o (Stylosanthes hamata cv. Verano). Most of the plant morphological a t t r i b u t e s , components of plant dry matter y i e l d and plant nutrient composition and uptake were s i g n i f i c a n t l y affected by phosphorus. In s o i l s collected from Samaru and J o s , phosphorus reduced days to 50% flowering and increased branch and nodule numbers while in the absence of added phosphorus Verano s t y l o planted into s o i l s collected from Sokoto flowered e a r l i e s t and produced the highest number of seeds and nodules. Phosphorus a p p l i c a t i o n increased dry matter y i e l d s of t o t a l plant and plant t o p . Yield of the root component was lowest and in fact declined further with phosphorus a p p l i c a t i o n. Phosphorus thus plays a g r e a t e r r o l e in increasing plant top dry matter y i e l d. The study suggested t h a t s o i l s collected from Jos suit seed production and would require up to 240 kg PpC/ha for t h i s purpose while s o i l s sampled from Samaru and Sokoto required 180 and 60 - 120 kg. P2O5/ha, r e s p e c t i v e l y for forage production. Nitrogen (N),phosphorus (P)tpotassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) concentrations peaked at 180 kg P2O5/ha, whereas uptake of these n u t r i e n t s maximised between 120 and 180 kg P2O5/ha. The N, P, K, Ca and Mg concentrations obtained in t h i s study were above the l e v e l s regarded as minimum needed for ruminant live weight maintenance- „ The need for f i e l d t r i a l s to support the findings in the present study was i n d i c a t e d.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ANIMAL SCIENCE. DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
Keywords
EFFECTS,, PHOSPHORUS,, LEVEL,, SOILS,, GROWTH,, CARIBBEAN STYLO,, stylosanthes hamata cv.,, Verano
Citation
Collections