Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilzer on the Early Growth Response of Afzelia africana

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in the nursery of Department of Forestry Technology at the Federal College of Forestry Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria to determine the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on early growth response of Afzelia africana. Seedlings were collected from Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo State and were transplanted into 2kg perforated polythene pots. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with five treatments replicated three times. The treatments were: 20 t ha-1 water hyacinth compost (T1), 20 t ha-1 water hyacinth + poultry manure compost (T2), 20 t ha-1 poultry manure (T3) and 50 kg ha-1 NPK 20:10:10 (T4) and T5 - control (no fertilizer application). The compost was applied two (2) weeks before planting, while NPK 20:10:10 was applied two 2 weeks after planting. The experiment was monitored for eight (8) weeks after transplanting (WAT), while growth parameters were measured. The results of the study showed that application of fertilizers gave significant (p=0.05) increase in plant height (cm), stem diameter (mm), leaf production, and leaf area (cm2) of A. africana. Plant height ranged from 41.43 cm in the control to 47.96 cm in the pots where 20t ha-1 water hyacinth compost was applied. Stem diameter also increased across treatments, while leaf production ranged from 9 in the control treatment to 14 in the pots with 20t ha-1 poultry manure. These results suggested that the incorporation of organic and inorganic fertilizers increased productivity of A. africana. However, application of 20 t ha-1 water hyacinth compost is recommended because it is available, affordable and environmentally friendly for the production of A. africana especially in the study area.