Abstract
Waterleaf apart from being a source of food provides employment and income to mostly female peasant farmers. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of organic manure types and their combinations on the growth and yield of water leaf in a typical tropical humid rainforest in 2016 and 2017 Cropping seasons. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments included sole poultry manure (PM) at 10 t ha-1, 10 t ha-1 cow dung (CD), 8 t ha-1 oil palm bunch ash (OPBA) and their combinations including; 5 t ha-1 PM + t ha-1CD, 5 t ha-1 PM +4 t ha-1 OPBA, 5 t ha-1 CD+4 t ha-1 OPBA and the control where no manures were applied. Data collected included; plant height, number of leaves and branches and leaf area plant -1, fresh and dry weights of water leaf. These were analyzed using analysis of variance and means compared using Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) at 5%. Waterleaf plants fertilized with 10 t ha-1 PM and combination of 5 t ha-1 PM +4 t ha-1 OPBA showed better performance in all the parameters measured. Hence, 10 t ha-1 PM was recommended amongst other forms of organic manure applied as sole or in combination in Calabar agro ecology of Nigeria.
Highlights
Waterleaf (Talinum Talinum fructicosum (L) Juss.), which originated in tropical Africa (Tindall, 1983) is an underutilized leafy vegetable crop grown in small corner plots in the southern part of Nigeria, where it serves as a source of food, employment and income for farmers (Idiong et al, 2002, Udo and Akpan, 2007)
Organic carbon (OC) contents of the soil in both years were moderate, available phosphorus and base saturation were high while total nitrogen, exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, Na and K) and ECEC were low
This study has shown that the application poultry manure (PM), oil palm bunch ash (OPBA) and cow dung (CD) sole or in combination as soil amendments significantly (P
Summary
Waterleaf (Talinum Talinum fructicosum (L) Juss.), which originated in tropical Africa (Tindall, 1983) is an underutilized leafy vegetable crop grown in small corner plots in the southern part of Nigeria, where it serves as a source of food, employment and income for farmers (Idiong et al, 2002, Udo and Akpan, 2007). Most soils in southern Nigeria are acidic due to the nature of parent materials, weathering, intensive cropping, heavy leaching, and may have multiple nutrient deficiencies (Akinmutimi et al, 2013, Owolabi et al, 2003). Such degraded soils are often associated with loss of organic matter and aggravated by repeated application of inorganic fertilizers (Obi and Ebo, 1995). Numerous studies have been carried out on one or more aspects of organic fertilizers as they influence crop growth and yield (Akinmutimi et al, 2013, Ndaeyo et al, 2013, Law-Ogbomo & Ajayi, 2009, Uko et al, 2009)
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