EFFECT OF TILLAGE PRACTICES AND FERTILIZER RATES ON GROWTH, AND YIELD OF SWEET POTATO (IPOMEA BATATA)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of National Root Crops Research Institute Sub-Station, Igbariam to study the effect of tillage practices and fertilizer application rates on the growth and productivity of sweet potato (var. Umuspo1) during the 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons. The experiment was set up as a 4 × 3 factorial fitted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The main factor comprised four levels of fertilizer rates (0, 200, 400, and 600 NPK 20:10:10/ha) while the sub-factor consisted of three tillage methods (flats, mounds, and ridges). Data collected on the growth and yield of the crop were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Genstat 4TH Edition statistical software. The significant means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) at a 5% probability level. The result indicated that tillage practice had a significant effect on vine length in the 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons whereas the number of leaves showed no significant difference. On the other hand, tillage practice had significant effect on number of roots in the 2022 cropping season. The result obtained on the length of root indicated that both tillage practices and fertilizer application rates had no significant effect on sweet potato root length in the 2021 and 2022 cropping seasons. However, the results on the yield showed that ridges had the best performance in almost all the yield parameters while the application of fertilizer at the rate of 200 kg/ha gave the highest yield.