Effects of Fertilizer Application on Growth Capacity of Castor (Ricinus Communis) Shrub

Abstract

Previous attempt to seek substitute locally available raw materials for sunflower oil, an imported raw material for surface coating manufacture has remained a challenge. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizer on the growth capacity of castor shrub since its oil has been found to be a close substitute to sunflower oil. This effort will drive backward integration in order to ensure sustained supply chain as required by local content policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria that will lead to developing local initiative for innovative technology. Data was obtained by measuring the progressive lateral growth parameters of the castor seed plant namely; plant height, stem diameter, leaf width, leaf length, petiole length and petiole diameter until maturity. A standard statistical package Minitab version 16.0 program was used to generate various plots which graphically depict and summarize the data while descriptive statistics of the data was solved using SPSS version 16.0 Software. The result showed that fertilizer type employed affects growth and development rate differently. In particular, poultry manure was found to be the most potent. The results also showed that the seed, upon sowing, sprouts in 7 days, and grows to maturity in about 146 days. It also suggest a growth capacity of 81.53 cm/kg which imports that in every 1 kg of soil considered, there is likely going to be available 1.51g of nitrogen. It is believed that this threshold amount of nitrogen would provide seemly quantity of nutrient that would sustain the growth.