EFFECTS OF POME AND NPK ON THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND TOTAL YIELD OF Amaranthus cruentus ON ULTISOLS OF BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

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1 EFFECTS OF POME AND NPK ON THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND TOTAL YIELD OF Amaranthus cruentus ON ULTISOLS OF BENIN CITY, NIGERIA Jombo 1, E. O, Remison 2, S. U., Law-Ogbomo 3 *, K. E. and Osaigbovo 3, A. U. ABSTRACT 1 Research and Technical Services, Edo Agricultural Development Project, Benin City, Nigeria 2 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria 3 Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City kolalawogbomo@yahoo.com The effect of palm oil mill effluent and NPK fertilizer on the growth and yield of Amaranthus cruentus was conducted in 2007 and 2008 at the Teaching and Research Farms of University of Benin. Benin City, Nigeria. The trial involved three levels of palm oil mill effluent (POME) (0, 5 and 10 t ha -1 ) and three levels of NPK 15:15:15 (0, 150 and 300 kg ha -1 ) using a factorial arrangement fitted into randomized complete block design and replicated three times. From the results, the soil was strongly acidic and low in organic carbon and total N. The POME was relatively high in organic carbon, N, P, K, Ca, Mg and ash. The application of POME and NPK significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index and total dry weight above control. These growth and yield attributes increased as POME and NPK rates increases. Relative to control, 5 and 10 t POME ha -1 increased herbage yield by 11 and 21 %, respectively. Also, in relative to control, 150 and 300 kg NPK ha -1 increased yield by 20 and 11 %, respectively. However, 5 and 10 t POME ha -1 was not significantly difference in respect to herbage yield. There was no significant interaction between POME and NPK. 5 t ha -1 POME is recommended for farmers. Keywords: Amaranthus cruentus, growth, herbage yield, NPK, POME INTRODUCTION Agriculture in the present day requires the supply of additional nutrients to sustain optimum crop production. This resulted from the low native fertility of the soil emanating from intense weathering and leaching couple with poor bush fallow practices leading to destruction of the fertility restoration cycle, causing soil erosion and subsequently to reduction in food production. Low native fertility of the soil is a major constraint to increased crop yield in the tropics. Tijani-Eniola et al. (2000) is of the view that growth should be rapid and uninterrupted and that some reasonable amount of fertilizer should be used to promote vigorous succulent growth of Celosia argentea. The application of N and P has been reported to increase the growth and leaf yield of amaranth. The right quantity of fertilizers needs to be applied to a crop in order to increase its growth and yield potentials. This has resulted in the profitable production of crop through the use of fertilizer. This arising from the fact that crop could only manifest its full potential only if supplied with adequate nutrients. This could be achieved through the use of inorganic and organic fertilizers. Application of fertilizer has been proven to enhance plant growth and development (Law- Ogbono and Remison, 2008). Inorganic fertilizer is the quickest and easiest way of increasing yield per unit area. It has been reported to enhanced crop growth and nutrient uptake (Sridlar and Adeoye, 2003). The availability of sufficient growth nutrients from inorganic fertilizers lead to larger dry matter production and yield (Obi et al., 200) owing to better utilization of solar radiation and more nutrient. However, it does not improve the soil texture and microbial population other adverse effects associated with inorganic fertilizer application are poor crop quality, disease susceptibility and environmental pollution. Continuous use of inorganic fertilizer is accompanied by reduced soil organic carbon content, increased soil acidity, degradation of soil physical properties and increased rate of erosion due to instability of soil aggregates (Adeoluwa and Adeogun, 2010). Adeoye et al (1993) reported that crop yield response to an inorganic fertilizer follows the law of diminishing returns and responsible for decrease value per unit material with increased application rate. The use of inorganic fertilizer is very expensive to resource poor farmers (Lombion et al., 1991) hence the need for alternative cheaper source. Organic waste as reported by Hsieh and Hsieh (1990) can be profitably used for enriching the soil especially degraded soils with very low organic matter content. Most effluents (cassava, rubber seed, palm oil mill, etc) are valuable sources of organic matter and most major plant nutrients. Discharging POME on lands untreated may lead to pollution and might deteriorate the environment. This is due to the presence of high organic load and their phytotoxic properties (Perez et al., 1992). In addition, the raw POME results in clogging and water logging of the soil and kills the vegetation on contact due to the presence of phenolic compounds (Nwoko et al., 2010). However, treated POME is amenable to microbial degradation thus, represents a low-cost source of plant nutrients. Treated POME influenced plant nutrients availability by:- providing plant nutrients; providing a source NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

2 of carbon and energy for microbial activities, controlling net mineralization pattern and increasing soil organic matter. Organic matter improves the structure, water storage and cation exchange capacity of soils. The nutrients in the organic fertilizer especially N is less leachable compared to inorganic fertilizer (1990). The utilization of POME as organic fertilizer will helps to solve the problem of indiscriminate dumping of this waste into the immediate environment (land and water). Studies on the use of industrial effluent as soil amendment have gained attention in recent times. The controlled application of various effluents has been reported in literatures. Ogbogbodo et al. (2003) observed a reduction in plant height, number of leaves and dry matter content in maize grown on soil amended with cassava mill effluent. Similarly, pharmaceutical effluent was reported by Osaigbovo and Orhue (2006) to depressed plant height and number of leaves of maize. Ogboi et al (2010) reported that soil contaminated with POME had superior growth and yield performance of maize than non POME contaminated soil. Nwoko and Ogunyemi (2010) reported that fermented POME enhanced maize crop production. The nutrient concentration in POME is very low and variable when compare to inorganic fertilizer thereby requiring large quantity of effluent to meet up with crop requirement. As a result of this, large quantity of POME may be required and this may be bulky, expensive to transport and labour intensive. In Nigeria, studies have shown that the use of inorganic fertilizer in combination with organic materials is able to give the desired sustainable crop yield than the sole use of inorganic fertilizer or animal manure (Lombion et al., 1991). Akanbi et al., (2010) reported the use of inorganic fertilizer in combination with organic fertilizer to give the desired higher and sustainable crop yields than the sole application of inorganic fertilizer or organic fertilizer. The objective of this study was to access the effect of palm oil mill effluent and NPK fertilizer on the growth and yield of amaranth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Field experiments were conducted during the 2007 and 2008 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farms of University of Benin, Benin City located between Latitudes 6 º 14' South and 7 º 34' North and Longitude 5 º 41' and 6 º 43' East. Benin City is in rainforest agroecological zone of Nigeria. The dominant soil of the studied area is ultisol. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) was obtained from Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research, Benin City while the amaranth cultivar NH 84/445 was obtained from National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, both in Nigeria. The POME was mixed with small quantity of sawdust in ratio of 4:1 to absorb the left over oil and decomposing farmyard manure and put into pits. Add few number of earthworms and covered with dried leaves to decompose for 16 weeks before usage (Rupani et al., 2010). POME was analyzed before application using Mylavarapus and Kennelley (2002) procedures.the factorial experiments were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replicates. Treatments consisted of three levels of POME (0, 5 and 10 t ha -1 ) and three levels of NPK fertilizer (0, 150 and 300 kg ha -1 ) in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement giving a total treatment combinations. The POME applied was thoroughly mixed with the soil and the left for two weeks to allow for equilibration. NPK was applied one week after transplanting (WAT). Seeds of A. cruentus were first sown in the nursery. Appropriate nursery management practices were carried out as at when needed to obtain healthy and uniform seedlings. After three weeks in the nursery, the seedlings were transplanted to well prepare beds and spaced 45 x 20 cm to achieve a plant population of 111,111 plants per hectares. Each plot size was 2.7 x 3.0 m and consisted of beds. Before transplanting in both years, soil samples (0 15 cm depth) were collected at different locations in the experimental site using auger. The collected samples were bulked together and thoroughly mixed to constitute composite sample. The composite soil sample was air dried in laboratory, ground, sieved through 2 mm sieved and analyzed for its points for routine analysis using Mylavarapus and Kennelley (2002) procedures. After transplanting crop, each plot was mulched with dry grasses/leaves to conserve soil moisture. Weed, insect pest and disease control were carried out appropriately. Crop growth was assessed through morphological parameters such as plant height and number of leaves. All parameters were determined in-situ on eight randomly sampled plants per plot. Leaf discs were punched out with a cork borer and the relationship between area and dry weight of the disc was used to estimate leaf area. Leaf area index (LAI) was computed as: LAI = (Remison, 1997). Where L = leaf area and A = land area. Total dry weight (TDW) was determined at four weeks intervals following the ISTA (1993) procedures. The five tagged plants from each plot were harvested at four, eight and 12 WAT and weighed for fresh yield. Data obtained were analyzed combined analysis of variance over two year period using GENSTAT programme Version 8.1 (GENSTAT, 2005). The Least Significant Differences (LSD) was used to detect significant differences treatments at 5% level of probability. NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION POME and soil properties The chemical analysis of the POME revealed that the effluent was high in some plant nutrients (Table 1), while the pre-cropping analysis of the soils used for the trial showed that the soil was highly acidic (4.46), low in organic content (1.69 %), total N (1.69 %) and low Ca/Mg ratio of 0.77 (Table 2), hence the soil used has low fertility status. This could be attributed to intensive cropping of the sites coupled with leaching (Gordon et al., 1993). Due to low fertility status of the soil, there is need for the application of soil amendment. Table 1: Chemical composition of palm oil mill effluent Nutrient Organic carbon (%) Nitrogen (%) 1.80 Potassium (%) 3.50 Magnesium (%) 1.07 Calcium (%) 0.25 Sodium (Na) 0.13 Ash (%) 13 ph (H 2 O) 4.80 Composition Table 2: Physical and chemical properties of soils from the experimental site before cropping with Amaranth Soil variable Value *Critical ph (H 2 O) 1: Carbon (%) Nitrogen (%) Available P (mg kg -1 ) Calcium (c mol kg -1 ) Magnesium (c mol kg -1 ) Potassium (c mol kg -1 ) Sodium (c mol kg -1 ) Calcium/Magnesium ratio Clay (g kg -1 ) Silt (g kg -1 ) Sand (g kg -1 ) Textural class Sandy loam - *Ibude et al (1988) Vegetative traits and growth The effect of POME and NPK application on the growth of amaranth is presented in Table 3. Plant height increased with age up to 4 WAT (weeks after transplanting). Fertilizer application had a significant effect on plant height at 4 WAT only. The application of 10 tonnes POME ha -1 had resulted to the tallest plants of cm which was not significantly different from 5 tonnes POME ha -1 at 4 WAT. The tallest plants (43.98 cm) among NPK treated plants were observed with 300 kg ha -1. However, POME treated plants were taller than NPK treated plants. However, Interaction between POME and NPK was not significant. The significant increase in plant height with fertilizer treatment reflects the effect of fertilizer nutrients on the plant. The control plants produced the shortest plants as they had to rely on the native soil fertility which from the result of chemical analysis was deficient in nutrients. Number of leaves increased with age up to 12 WAT without declining. Significant number of leaves was noted between 4 12 WAT for POME application. The highest number of leaves was obtained with 10 t POME ha -1. However, for NPK treatment, it was significant at 4 and 8 12 WAT. The plants with the highest number of leaves from NPK application were observed with 300 kg NPK ha -1 at 4, 8, 10 and 12 WAT. Interactive effects between POME and NPK application were significant only at 4 and 12 WAT in respect of number of leaves. The increased in number of leaves under POME and NPK application, reconfirmed the role of fertilizer in promoting vegetative growth in leafy vegetables (Tijani-Eniola et al., 2000). The higher number of leaves observed in the treated plots could mainly be attributed to increased availability of nutrients in soil and amaranth uptake of the applied nutrients (Bano, 1987). This gave rise to increased stem girth which resulted in the retention of appreciable amount of assimilates in the stem for node and leaf production. It could also be directly influenced by N supply in the fertilizer applied. Changes in the number of leaves are bound to affect the overall performance of the plant as the leaves serve as the organ of photosynthesis for the manufacture of assimilates. The number of leaves increased as POME and NPK increased up to maximum level. The increase in number of leaves had been claimed to be directly influenced by N supply in fertilizer applied (Ehigiator, 1990). NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

4 Table 3: Effects of POME and NPK application on the growth of amaranth POME Plant height (cm) Number of leaves Leaf area index (t ha -1 ) WAT WAT WAT LSD (0.05) ns ns ns ns NPK Plant height (cm) Number of leaves Leaf area index (kg ha -1 ) WAT WAT LSD (0.05) ns ns ns ns ns ns LSD (0.05) POME x NPK ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns WAT - Weeks after transplanting ns - Not significant at 5 % level of probability NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

5 LAI increased with age up to 8 WAT and declined at 10 and 12 WAT. Application of POME led to significant enhancement of LAI over control at 4, 6, 10 and 12 WAT. The highest LAI was obtained at 10 t POME ha -1 which was not significantly different from 5 t ha -1. Application of NPK resulted in significantly increased LAI over control at 6, 8 and 12 WAT. However, 150 and 300 kg NPK ha -1 were not significantly different from each other. The interactive effects between POME and NPK were significant at 6 WAT. Higher LAI associated with POME and NPK treated plants have been due to increased leaf production. The untreated plants had lower LAI due to less number of leaves resulting from premature leaf fall. The LAI of any plant is an indication of the assimilative capacity and translocation. This was reflected in the growth and vigour of plants treated with POME and NPK over untreated plants. The higher LAI produced by POME and NPK fertilizer was due to additional N from them. The effect of POME and NPK application on yield of amaranth as influenced by POME and NPK application is presented in Table 4. Total dry weight (TDW) of amaranth was significantly influenced by POME and NPK application at 8 and 12 WAT. POME and NPK fertilizer application had no significant effect on TDW at 4 WAT. The TDW increased as POME and NPK application rate increased and with age reaching peak at 12 WAT. The TDW was positively correlated with LAI both at eight and 12 WAT with values of r = 0.67 and 0.69, respectively. This indicated that the increased LAI resulting from increasing POME and NPK application rate led to higher dry weight. The greatest TDW were obtained with POME at both 8 (4.86 t ha -1 ) and 12 WAT (8.16 t ha -1 ). For application of NPK, the highest TDW was obtained with 150 kg ha -1 at 12 WAT (8.12 t ha -1 ), at 8 WAT both 150 and 300 kg ha-1 had the same TDW (5.00 t ha -1 ). There was no significant interaction between POME and NPK. Higher TDW associated with fertilizer application is an indication of better quality due to reduction of fibre content and more accumulation of nutrients in comparison with control (Sanwal et al., 2007). The herbage yield was significantly increased with increases in POME rate reaching peak with 10 t ha -1. The herbage yield of POME was between 11 and 21 % higher than what were observed with 0 and 5 t ha -1. However, 10 t ha -1 POME was not significantly different from 5 t ha -1 POME. NPK application increased with increasing rate reaching peak at 150 kg ha-1 (29.48 t ha -1 ) and declined at 300 kg ha -1 (27.40 t ha -1 ). Table 4: Effects of POME and NPK application on yield of amaranth POME Total dry weight (t ha -1 ) Herbage yield (t ha -1 ) WAT (t ha -1 ) LSD (0.05) ns POME Total dry weight (t ha -1 ) Herbage yield (t ha -1 ) WAT (t ha -1 ) LSD (0.05) ns LSD (0.05) POME x NPK ns ns ns ns WAT - Weeks after transplanting ns - Not significant The interactive effects of POME and NPK were not significant on herbage yield. Higher yield response due POME is ascribed to improvement in physical and biological properties of soil resulted in better supply of nutrient led to good crop growth and yield. Furthermore POME would have helped the soil to improve the nutrient status and water holding capacity. The test soil crop benefited from the addition of POME, use alone or combined with NPK. This finding agreed with the view of Ayoola and Makinde (2007) who reported that organic fertilizer can be enriched with inorganic fertilizer to have maize grain yields similar to yields from plants treated with inorganic fertilizers. Solubilization effect of plant nutrients by the addition of POME led to increased uptake of NPK leading to higher production of leaves resulting in higher leaf area. Higher leaf area leads to higher leaf area index (LAI) with greater light interception resulting in the production of higher assimilates which can be translocated to the tender stems and leaves which produce the economic yield. NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

6 CONCLUSION From the trial, since 5 and 10 t ha -1 POME were not significantly different from each other and no significant interaction between POME and NPK application indicating that both acted independently of each other. Application of 5 t ha -1 POME produced optimum herbage yield and therefore recommended for farmers since, it is less bulky than 10 t ha -1 POME. Less bulkiness is an indication of lower transportation and labour cost. In addition application of 5 t ha -1 POME produced the greatest total dry weight. The POME makes nutrients to be slowly available and thus provides reservoir of plant food for crops. REFERENCES Adeoluwa, O. O. and Adeogun, O. O Evaluation of feather as organic fertilizers on Amaranthus (Amaranthus caudatus). Proceeding of the First Technical Workshop on organic Agriculture, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria 6-8 September, P Adeoye, G. O., Sridlar, M. K. C. and Mohammed, O. E Poultry waste management for crop production, Nigerian Experienced Waste management Resources 11: Akanbi, W. B., Togun, A. O., Adediran,J. A. and Ilupeju, E. A. O Growth, dry matter and fruit yields components of okra under organic and inorganic sources of nutrients. American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 4(1): Ayoola, O.T and Makinde, E.A Fertilizer Treatment Effects on Performance of Cassava under Two Planting Patterns in a Cassava-based Cropping System in South West Nigeria. Res.J. Agric. Biol.l Sci. 3(1): Bano, K., Kale R.D. and Gajanan, G.G Culturing earth worms Eudrillus euginae for the cast production and assessment of worm cast as biofertilizer. Journal of Soil Biology and Ecology 7, Ehigiator, J. O Farm yard manure: Need for its adoption as an alternative to chemical fertilizer uses in Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Horticultural Science 3: 1 9. Gordon, W.B.; Whitney, D.A.; and Raney, R.A Nitrogen management in furrow irrigated, ridge-tilled corn. Journal of Production. Agriculture 6, Hsieh, S. and Hsieh, C. F The use of organic manure in crop production. Extension Bulletin 315 (ASPAC) Food and Fertilizer Technical Centre, Taiwan. 18 pp. ISTA International Rules for seed Testing Association. The determination of moisture content and number of seed in accession. Seed Science and Technology Supplementary rule 21: Law-Ogbomo, K.E and Remison, S.U Growth and yield of white guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.) influenced by NPK fertilization on a forest site in Nigeria. Journal of Tropical Agriculture, 46 (1-2): Lombin, L.G., Adepetu, J.A. and Ayotade, K.A Organic fertilizer in the Nigerian agriculture: Present and future F.P.D.D. Abuja. pp: Mylavarapus, R. S and Kennelley, D. E Extension soil testing laboratory (ESTL): Analytical procedures and training manual. Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, University of Florida, Gainsville, USA. Nwoko, C. O. and Ogunyemi, S. 2010) Evaluation of Palm oil mill effluent to maize (Zea mays. L) crop: yields, tissue nutrient content and residual soil chemical properties. Australian Journal of Crop Science, 4 (1): Obi, C. O., Nnabude,P. C. and Onucha, E Effects of kitchen waste compost and tillage on soil chemical properties and yield of Okra (Abelmuschus esculentus), Soil Sci. 15: Ogbogbodo, A. J.; Oluwafemi, A. P. and Unuigbe, C. A Effects of polluting soil with cassava (Manihot esculentus) mill effluent in maize growth and some soil properties. Nigerian Journal of Applied Sciences 21: Ogboi, E., Kperegbeyi, J. I., Nmor, E. I. and Odeh, H. O The performance of maize (Zea mays) in soil contaminated with palm oil mill effluent (POME) in South, South Central Nigeria Osaigbovo, A. U. and Orhue, E. R Influence of pharmaceutical effluent on some soil chemical properties and early growth of maize (Zea mays L.). African Journal of Biochemistry, 5(12): Osaigbovo, A. U.; Orhue, E. R. and Popor, U Effects of palm oil mill effluent on some soil chemical properties and growth of maize (Zea mays L.).African Journal of General Agriculture, 3(1): Perez, J., Rubia, T. Moreno, J. and Martinez. J Phenolic content and antibacterial activity of olive oil wastes. Environmental Toxicology Chemistry Rupani, P. F., Singh, R.P., Ibrahim, M. H. and Esa, N Review of current palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment methods: vermicomposting as a sustainable practice. World Applied Journal 11(1): NJAFE VOL. 8 No. 3,

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