Effects of Organic Manure and NPK Fertilizer on the Yield And Performance of Sweet Potato Varieties (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam in Nyanya, FCT, Abuja

Abstract

In Nigeria, one of the major problems confronting agriculture is poor soil fertility replenishment strategy that could allow sustainable crop production. A field trial was conducted at National Root Crops Research Institute Nyanya out-station with the aim of studying the effects of organic manure and NPK fertilizer on the yield and performance of sweet potato varieties. The trial was conducted during the 2018 farming season. Treatments comprised of seven treatment combinations of 50% cow dung (3tons/ha), Poultry manure (3tons/ha), NPK (2.59kg/ha), 25% cow dung (1.5tons/ha), poultry manure ( 1.5tons/ha), NPK ( 1.295kg /ha), and (0kg/ha control) and 2 varieties of sweet potato (butter milk and umuspo 1). These treatments were factorially combined and laid out in a randomized complete block design, with three replications. Results obtained showed that Vine length were significantly different at 4, 6 and 10 WAP at (P˂0.05). Treatment combination of (25% NPK+25% PM) gave the highest value for vine length. Treatment of 50 % poultry manure gave the highest number of tubers (15) with NPK giving the lowest number of tubers (8). It is recommended that application of poultry manure (3tons/ha) should be adopted for the cultivation of sweet potato in the study area.