Telfairia
occidentalis is a
widely used leafy and seed vegetable in West Africa and adequate soil fertility
management is essential for its higher productivity. Field experiments were conducted on neem leaf
and poultry manures soil amendment to assess the growth and yields of Telfairia occidentalis between 2013 and
2014 cropping seasons. The experiment
was laid out in a randomised complete block design with four replications to
include 5 t ha-1 of neem leaf manure (NLM), 5 t ha-1 of
poultry manure (PM), 2.5 t ha-1 of neem leaf manure plus 2.5 t ha-1
of poultry manure (NLM+PM) and control.
Data collected on vegetative and yield related components were subjected
to analysis of variance at p<0.05 significance level. The results showed that number of leaves,
vine length, leaf area and number of branches increased significantly (p<0.05)
in plants treated with NLM, PM and NLM+PM from 2-5 months after planting (MAP)
compared to control. At five MAP, NLM+PM significantly (p<0.05)
produced more leaves (52.5; 56.4), longer vines (473.0; 488.4cm), more branches
(14.6; 16.3) compared to sole treatment and control. In addition, foliar yield (4.29; 4.94 t ha‑1),
number of pods/plant (3.09; 4.11), length of pods (72.80; 81.60cm), number of
seeds/pod (87.62; 89.51), seeds yield (61.60; 62.54 t ha-1) and pod
yield (49.85; 50.15 t ha-1) produced were higher in plants treated
with combined manures in the two cropping seasons. The applied combined manures
(neem leaf and poultry) could be exploited for soil improvement and sustainable
yield increase of Telfairia occidentalis
production.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | October 1, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 8 Issue: 4 |