Suitability of Blended Minjingu Fertilisers for Flue-Cured Tobacco Production in Tanzania's Sandy Soils

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the suitability of minjingu N10P18K24 top-dressed with minjingu CAN27% N fertilizer blends for tobacco yield and quality. Methods: The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in 3 sites during the 2020-2021 farming season at Mtanila (Chunya), Tumbi (Tabora) and Songambele (Urambo). The experiment was done 3 times and used 5 types of treatment as described below: T1=standard N10P18K24+standard CAN27%, T2=minjingu N10P18K24+minjingu CAN27%, T3=minjingu N10P18K24 standard CAN27%, T4=standard N10P18K24 minjingu CAN27% and T5=Absolute control. The plot measured was 6m×6m. Tobacco variety (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. K326) seed sourced from the Tobacco Research Institute of Tanzania was used in the experiment. Seedbeds were first raised in a nursery with a spacing of 1.5×20m before being transplanted in field plots after 60 days. Basal application of N10P18K24 fertilizer was done a week after transplanting tobacco seedlings, followed by top-dressing CAN27N% fertilizer 2 weeks after application of N10P18K24 fertilizer. All agronomic management procedures were strictly observed. Results: Across the sites, the tobacco plants fertilized with minjingu basal N10P18K24 fertilizer and top-dressed with minjingu CAN27% (T2) yielded 1942.59kg ha-1 of dry tobacco leaf, which did not significantly (P≤0.001) differ with the yield of 2033.64kg ha-1 from plots fertilized with the standard N10P18K24 and top-dressed with the standard CAN27% (T1). The tobacco plants fertilized with standard N10P18K24 and top dressed with minjingu CAN27% produce higher yields of dry leaf (1738.88kg ha-1). This indicates that minjingu CAN27% fertilizer significantly contributed to the increased yield when applied in combination with minjingu N10P18K24. Conclusion: Minjingu N10P18K24 and minjingu CAN27% yielded tobacco plants that were not significantly different to those yielded by application of standard N10P18K24 and standard CAN27%. Additionally, the minjingu CAN27% contributed significantly to the dry leaf yield and quality of the tobacco.