Effect of Different Levels of Organic Manure (Poultry droppings) on the Growth and Yield of Benniseed: Sesamum indicum var. Mashesherenkaka as Produced in Bauchi State College of Agriculture, Yelwa, Bauchi
Nanyi J.I. Dutse, Abarshi Titus, Musa Yusuf and Usman Sa‘adu
College of Agriculture Yelwa, Bauchi State
Email: nanyijd@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) belongs to the plant division Spermatophyta, subdivision Angiospermae, genus Sesamum with about 36 species, commonly referred to as benniseed in English in Nigeria. Nigeria is endowed with favorable ecologies for sesame cultivation. However low yield potential of the crop coupled with problems encountered during its establishment and harvesting tend to discourage growers. Considering its economic importance, it is anticipated that high yielding varieties could attract more farmers to its production. Scarcity and the expensive nature of inorganic fertilizer coupled with its potential negative impact on environment have led to the increase use of organic manure in crop production. Poultry droppings as an organic manure rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium has been found to have positive impact on the growth and yield of sesame crop. This therefore triggered the desire for further investigation on the effect of different levels of organic manure (poultry droppings) on the growth and yield of a potentially high yielding, white seeded sesame var. mashesherenkaka. With the view to releasing the findings from these investigations to interested sesame producers in the study area to help guide them to the use of the optimum level of organic manure for high yield and better economic return. Two separate experiments were conducted in the research farm of Bauchi State College of agriculture, Yelwa, Bauchi, Bauchi State, Nigeria. The treatments were four levels of organic manure (poultry droppings); which were 0(control), 15, 20, 25 tonnes/ha. The experimental design used was Randomized Complete. The plot size was 2 x 2 m= 4m2.The various levels of organic manure were randomly applied to well demarcated plots at two weeks before seed sowing in each cropping season. Data collected and analysed using the SPSS analytical tool for the research periods were; plant height (cm) leaf area (cm2), number of branches, and capsules per plant, 1000 seed weight (g) and seed yield (Kg/ha). All through the period of the investigation it was observed that organic manure significantly (p=0.05) affected all parameters studied except number of branches per plant during 2013 study period which was statistically non significant. Highest seed yield was observed in crops treated to 25tones/ha of poultry droppings, though the yield obtained in 2013 was almost doubled the value obtained in 2012. This could be associated to inconsistency in weather factors especially rainfall and wind speed at the time the crops are fully grown. It would be more appropriate for further studies to be made on the topic before arriving at a conclusive and reliable recommendation of an acceptable value of poultry droppings for effective production of sesame var. mashehserenkaka in the study are.